I RANKED every Chopin Nocturne from Best to Worst
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- You guys have been asking for it, and it's finally here! The Chopin Nocturnes tier list, ranked from my favorite to my least favorite. The Nocturnes are one of my favorite sets of piano pieces, and obviously Chopin is one of the greatest classical composers. So I'll play a lot of examples on the piano, and let you know which ones I love, and which ones I love less.
/ ryanabshier
#classicalmusic #chopin #piano #tierlist #howtoplaypiano #ranking
![เปิดบ้าน พี่ตูน Bodyslam หลังใหม่คนแรก ที่ภูเก็ต l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/flFwcmyDQSk/mqdefault.jpg)
Nocturne op 62 no 1 is so well written, the textures, the counterpoint, and the harmonies make it among the best ones for sure.There's a reason why it's the most played nocturne in the International Chopin Competition
I agree it’s really nice
His later nocturnes are the best in general
@@gmfrunzik I agree
Yeah, really was shocked at the F tier. Easy S tier for me
Both in the opus are the best written
Op. 62 n°1 and op. 55 n°2 are two of the most sublime things Chopin wrote
yes, poor ranking indeed
op. 55 no2 is my favorite! Probably my favorite piece of music l learned in college.
You're absolutely right - and the E major OP.62 nr. 2 has to be added to the list!
No way to say this nicely.... a list which has the C# minor and the F minor on top and the late Eb, the late B major and the E major near the bottom belie an unsophisticated mind; a listener who has chosen the popular and simple....
Op. 55 No. 2 is easily one of Chopin's best nocturnes. Definitely not an F tier.
yeah, okay, fun. but let’s face it - every single,one is an incredible masterpiece.
Haha, yeah. When compared to the field these rankings would all skyrocket. There's only a couple I don't really like.
Ok i get that its all subjective, but putting Op. 62 no.1 in the lowest Tier is just a crime. It hink its the best
Definitely my pick that the largest majority disagrees with... Hey, it makes me unique, right? Thanks for checking out the video.
The op. 15 no. 2’s B section is magic, especially if played very well. The melody, the culmination… magic magic magic!
That one is the weakest nocturne for me personally, if Chopin could ever have a "weak" piece lol. But yeah definitely, that middle section is nowhere near from bad.
@@sandeegrey5977 Para mim, é o 15 no 3. O noturno 15 no 2 é mágico, muito original.
Its an easy S tier for all chopin pianists, dont take things personally from a guy who placed op 62 no 2 in f tier
😭😭😭😭 op.9 no.3 is my favorite nocturne (especially the middle section) and the melody in the A section is quite beautiful especially where it goes to G# minor
Ahhh, sorry. Doing the nocturnes is like guaranteeing to knock on someone's piece because they are so good. Maybe I'll redo the list with all S tiers 🤣
@@ryanabshier i mean you already explained the inside the video that it would be meaningless putting all the nocturnes in the top tier, so it’s fine
Okay, given how controversial some of the picks were I made my own list. Chopin is my favorite composer and nocturnes are my favorite pieces of his so I believe it might correlate more with other people's opinions. Just to note I haven't played all of them myself (only like a half).
S tier
Op. 27 No 2 - Not much to say. Love story told by piano alone
Op. 48 No 1 - My favorite nocturne and passing time haven't changed that. Brilliant piece and doppio movimento is such a joy to listen. I play it every time I play the piano
Op. 55 No 2 - A lovely singing duet. Trills near the end are a great spoiler of what is to come in Op. 62
Op. 62 No 1 - The return of the first theme embellished in trills might be the first attempt ever in writing such music, showing the genius of Chopin. The nocturne itself is fantastic, no questions asked
A tier
Op. 15 No 2 - Great piece overall. The flowing melody in the middle section is the peek of this genre, creating dream-like melody
Op. 32 No 2 - The A section is a bit repetitive but it fades away given the excellent middle section. Lovely to play as well
Op. 62 No 2 - Nostalgic and hopeful. I feel like Chopin was saying goodbye to this genre with this piece and he delivered. Would be S tier but I realized I put too many pieces there already.
B tier
Op. 15 No 1 - I can't help but love it and playing the middle section is my new hobby ever since I learnt it. Reminds me a bit of the 2nd ballade
Op. 9 No 3 - My favourite from Op. 9, especially the middle section. Lovely singing-like melody with interesting structure
Op. 27 No 1 - A dramatic piece but what a drama it is. Beautiful resolution at the end
Op. 32 No 1 - Noteworthy as it start in major but ends in minor. In my opinion it could be described as a lesser Op. 27 No 2, similar story but with completely different ending. And what an ending it is
C tier
Op. 9 No 2 - I heard it so many times that it's an instant skip for me when listening to a playlist of nocturnes. Still great melody and iconic coda
Op. 37 No 2 - I can't imagine what a nightmare it must be to memorize it since it goes through so many modulations (I heard it goes through all the scales throughout the piece)
Op. 48 No 2 - While I like this nocturne it always was a bit forgettable, maybe because of its opus sibling. Great continuous, flowing melody though.
Op. 72 No 1 - I really like the contrapuntal writing of the second theme. Such a nostalgic piece to me and even though I prefer other nocturnes now, it still holds strong
D tier
Op. 9 No 1 - repetitive middle section but overall great showcase of what a nocturne should feel like. While it's pretty good overall there are many others that are simply much better.
Op. 15 No 3 - Once I familiarized myself with the supposed meaning behind this piece I started liking it more and more. Still, relative to other nocturnes it's considerably worse. Probably the easiest one to learn (or second easiest)
Op. 55 No 1 - Don't know why but with time I really started to dislike the beginning. For me it starts being good alongside piu mosso section. I think it's the worst nocturne of late Chopin but I can see why someone might like it more
F tier
Op. 37 No 1 - one of the worse ones for me, though the chorale in the middle increases the score. Still not enough for a higher place.
Love the details and effort in your picks. And yeah, people are going to have vastly different opinions and I want it that way. I feel like if I changed my picks to match the masses it'd be dishonest (or just a different type of video). But I love reading your picks and rationale for each one.
However, I don't feel my picks are too wild though, other than the Op 62, haha. I noticed the same effect when I made my Beethoven sonatas and top composers tier lists, a lot of people shocked by how wild they were, but not agreement on what should change. For example, outrage Mozart was only A, and also outrage that Mozart as high as A. However, that tierlist, if anything, is almost too normal. Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Bach at the top, wild would be Grieg, Grainger, Scarlatti at the very top. But most viewers see at least one shocking pick (Ravel, Schönburg, Mozart, Debussy, Messiaen, Handel) and would say the list was wild for not including them at the top. However, by including one and knocking one down I'd just be inducing other rage. And of course, most importantly, not being honest with audience if I adjust/lie to match what others say. And I'm sure everyone has a composer or piece they love irrationally, which knocks down another deserving entry.
But yeah, I think putting "pen to paper" just bring out shock. One last though, I set out to have 4 pieces in each tier (because if I gave them any rating I wanted probably 6 S and 8-10 A tiers, but that wouldn't be that interesting as you wouldn't see any distinction between the picks). So what would you change in your list if you were forced to make 4 Fs and 4 Ds?
Thanks again for checking out the video and the long comment. Gotta say one of my favorite thing about videos is chatting afterwards.
@@ryanabshier Completely understandable, being true to yourself is more important than the opinion of others. That's why I kept emphasizing in the list I made that those are my thoughts and it's okay to disagree/have your own personal preference. That's the beauty of music, there are plenty of pieces to choose from and what might be S tier for one, for others would be bottom D tier at best.
I spent more than an hour on my previous comment thinking how I really feel about them (as I never really thought about how much I like one nocturne compared to another). I believe that if I were to put even more time into it, some tiers and reasoning would be different even though I've been listening to Chopin's nocturnes for many years now (almost on a daily basis!) so one would think I already had that sorted out in my head.
Well, as per your question it's worth noting I haven't included both posth. nocturnes. Don't know why, maybe I felt like I shouldn't be ranking them since Chopin himself didn't want them to be listened to. Also, I added "D tier" as I felt like an additional tier was needed. So to make my list compatible with yours I'd make the following changes:
- Move Op. 27 No 1 or Op. 9 No 3 to "A tier". Honestly not sure which one is better, I like them both for different reasons. Recently I was more bound to Op. 9 No 3.
- "B tier" is now missing one piece, so I moved Op. 48 No 2 there.
- Move Op. 55 No 1 to "C tier".
- Combine both D and F tiers to sync with your number of tiers. Add both posthumous to that tier. The C# minor nocturne is definitely better than the C minor one but in my opinion neither of them deserves a higher tier (too many outstanding pieces as you mentioned!). Also the C minor one seems... like it was a draft? Or some written inspiration for another piece. For this reason this nocturne could be ranked in it's own, separate tier.
So that would be:
S: Op. 27 No 2, Op. 48 No 1, Op. 55 No 2, Op. 62 No 1
A: Op. 9 No 3, Op. 15 No 2, Op. 32 No 2, Op. 62 No 2
B: Op. 15 No 1, Op. 27 No 1, Op. 32 No 1, Op. 48 No 2
C: Op. 9 No 2, Op. 37 No 2, Op. 55 No 1, Op. 72 No 1
F: Op. 9 No 1, Op. 15 No 3, Op. 37 No 1, Op. posth. C# minor, Op. posth. C minor
Looking at the new list I like it even more than my original list. Though Op. 9 No 1 feels underappreciated now :D
By the way thanks for the detailed reply, stumbled across this video by accident but haven't expected such a great response to my comment. You seem really down to earth. :)
@@ryanabshier Also really curious what makes you dislike Op. 55 no 2 so much. Funny how for me it's definitely top 3, while you said it's your least favourite 😄
Op. 9 no. 2 is probably the best Chopin nocturne of all time. I've listened all of the nocturnes maybe over 50 times. Yes, each one of them having different auras that match with the mood of the listener but putting Op. 9 no. 2 in C tier just because you've heard it too much? Op. 9 no. 2, it is the most famous because it gives the greatest effect of "Nocturne". There is a reason that it is so famous. Just try to listen it like you are hearing for the first time, look out from your window, watch the night sky and breathe that fresh air. It makes you feel light as a feather, you can almost believe that you are going to fly while getting closer and closer to the end. If someone would ask me "Which piece would you prefer to a person that have never listened Chopin before. I would say Op. 9 no. 2 without thinking twice. Because it is pure 'emotion'. Not over emotional as it should be. It is piece that you should play before going to bed.
It isn't overrated. It takes any ordinary people to it's magic.
Chopin is not my favorite composer but I can feel his intention of music.
@@demon9166 Yeah, maybe I was a bit too harsh but it was based on my personal preference. It was my favourite nocturne and the first one I learnt but hearing it everywhere as a generic background classical music spoilt it for me. I guess it's a similar case as in ballades - most of the people would say 1st ballade is their favourite but people who listened to all of them excessively usually point at 2nd/3rd/4th. All great pieces but given the wide range to choose from obviously there'll be others not drawn as much to the most popular ones.
Op. 55 no. 2 so Love is Crazy. By far one of the best Nocturnes. Contrapoints are on point, Melodie is Beautiful, and left Hand is more like a own melodie… pure genius
damn you just tragically hate the op.15 (yellow), would never put them in F tier :D
Absolutely hate!!!! Haha, that's what it feels like. I bet in reality I could study any nocturne and probably fall in love. I'd be more excited about some than others, but Chopin is basically all good.
@@ryanabshier true. I think op15 has really good contrast between A and B sections, which i like a lot
They are deffo not chopin's masterworks, but are nice little nocturnes
Op.15 n.3 is definitely the easiest, but still it's a beautiful piece which demonstrates great composers can do fantastic things with simple means. I even played it at an Exam in Piano Performance and Repertoire (I'm graduating in composition, thus I use piano more as a tool for writing music) alongside with Zipoli's Partitas in A minor and the first Movement of Mozart's KV310 and it went very well.
Op.27 n.1 is probably my favorite, but if we'd have to rank them by absolute value all of Chopin's Nocturne would fall either in A- or S-tier.
That's the coolest thing about Chopin. Even when it's "simple' to play, it's not simplistic music. They are still beautiful pieces worth playing.
I've thought about that too. If I ranked these pieces against the field of all music, I'd probably have almost all S and A, then the 4 F tiers in this video would probably fall in the B and C. So basically all wonderful. Thanks for checking out the video!
Op 55 no 2 is my first love of the nocturnes. So many sephtuplets, and the moving trills with other things going on in the same hand. Granted, the form is simpler than the others, being mostly an A section with a short coda. Still I'd bump it up in my own ranking. On second thought, I would find it really difficult to give any of the nocturnes an F tier, so good job, I guess.
Haha, gold star for Ryan, sticking to the rules and putting something in F tier. Yeah, honestly, I think it would he impossible to study any of these and not fall in love. Chopin doesn't really write bad music. Even things I "don't like" are always relative to the ones I adore.
I love watching your ranking videos man you’re so passionate it’s nice to see!
I personally really love Chopin’s waltzes, so do you ever think you’d do a ranking video on those? I think that would be super awesome!
Thanks! It's really nice to hear the positive feedback! These tierlist for some reason bring out hate in some people 😅😅😅, so I'm glad there's some who like them.
I imagine I'll keep going through sets of pieces if people keep watching them. I know the waltzes less than other Chopin for sure, I'll have to get back into them. Which ones are your favorite?
@@ryanabshierOh yeah don’t worry I think it’s awesome. Everyone has their own opinion and I always find it interesting to see others even if I disagree with some of them.
Also yeah it’s totally fine if you aren’t that familiar with all of his waltzes
My personal favorite is the Waltz in C sharp minor. The reoccurring theme is stuck in my head it’s so good 😭
Op. 37/2 in F is crazy bro
Yep
Come here just to make sure op.48 no.1 is in the S tier😂
Haha, I glad I didn't disappoint. Some others were not as pleased!
this was a really fun video to watch! I love watching ranking videos. I have to disagree with the op. 9 no. 3 though, it's one of my favorite nocturnes
Glad you liked it. I don't know why the B major nocturnes don't speak to me. Obviously they are well loved.
It’s gorgeous, elegant, with a little bit of drama in the middle section. I heard it played beautifully at the Chopin Competition and it created a bit of a stir as it is typically passed over in favor of the b-flat minor and E-flat major before it. It needs a sophisticated interpreter, as it involves subtle rhythmic challenges that would frustrate amateur pianists, who have much more accessible nocturnes to choose from that are also more famous.
How can you rank the c-sharp minor opus posth. higher than the c-sharp minor opus 27 no. 1? Please have your head examined!
Op. 15 no. 1 reminds me of white chocolate-covered pretzels for some random reason lol
The op 62 pair has been my favorite for a long time now. I really love the Late Chopin. Ballade 4 op 52 is definitely his greatest composition ever, IMO. The op 59 is probably his best set of mazurkas (tied with op 50) and who can possibly deny the Barcarolle op 60 and Berceuse op 57? The Polonaise-Fantaisie op 61 is a bit all over the place but the best moments rank in Chopin’s greatest genius. I’m starting to really love it despite the messy nature of the piece
As a Chopin enthusiast and seasoned Polish folk music researcher, I have to agree with your assessment of op 59. All 3 are masterpieces, but so are those of op 6 and 7, written when Chopin was a teenager! Chopin wanted his survivors to destroy all his works not published during his lifetime, so op 66 would have fallen into that category. I wish I could like that piece but it's so overplayed. Every time I hear it I roll my eyes and say, "Again?" Agree re op 61, all over the place but definitely a great piece.
Polonaise Fantasie is not all over the place. It’s a coherent masterwork
@@joeykremple Two things can be true at the same time. It is both all over the place and coherent masterwork
@@hyrumlee7356 cool. I can dig it 😎
@@joeykremple I was referring to the fact that it's not strict ABA form like many (not all) of Chopin's other Polonaises. I totally agree it's a masterwork of a mature composer.
Bro you cant say op 15 no 2 is lower than S tier
Bro you cant say that the op 15 G minor nocturne is worse than the op 37
After you pit the e major nocturne in c tier i turned off the video
You did Op 62 so dirty😭
to be honest there is NOT a single piece by chopin that I don't like
@@BrettElpers-yr8zn can't really go wrong with Chopin
Did his nocturne in G major dirty. That middle section is beautiful 😊
I love the "A" section (the one in 3rds), despise the sappy middle section. It's only a matter of taste. Point taken!
This really reminds me of why I almost never bother even trying to rank pieces within a group like this. I don't think it accomplishes anything to be able to put pieces in a ranking, and I often can't even name my favourite within a group - I might have to name more than half as equal favourites. And if I were to force myself to nominate a favourite (or a small number of favourites), but I did that every day, I might well find that I pick out different favourites each time. It's all ust so arbitrary.
However, in the case of the Chopin Nocturnes, there are a few I can confidently say are less than favourites. In particular, the two posthumous ones would fall here. I believe they were very early Chopin works, and there is a reason they don't have opus numbers: Chopin evidently didn't himself judge the to be worthy of his definitive canon. And there are a couple of very popular works that may be very good, but I don't quite see why they are so popular - for example, the 2nd Nocturne in Eb major, Op. 9 no. 2. Just seems a bit tooo predictable and well-ordered to make the very top, for me, at least. I tend to find this with Chopin's music generally, that the most popular or famous pieces are not amongst my favourites. Perhaps I got over-exposed to them over the years, hearing them more often because they are played more, and as a result they have lost some of their freshness for me, some of that inexplicable magic.
Ok. After watching your video on Beethoven op. 101 no.28, I subscribed. However, after you failed to put Chopin’s greatest Nocturne (op.9 no.1) in the S tier, I unsubscribed. Have a good day.
@@eros88keys 🤣🤣🤣 Me reading this comment was like 🤔🙂😇 😯😳🥺
I do like the nocturne though, just got pushed down because it's not in my top favorites.
I discovered and learned Op. 48 no. 2 and thought it was the greatest short piece by Chopin I had learned. Then I got curious about Op. 48 no. 1 and then I realized...it is one of the composer's finest compositions, and most pianists butcher it by not paying attention to rests and articulation marks, etc. It's easily the most technically difficult of the nocturnes. I learned to play that as well. Now I've forgotten both but I'm going to relearn them thanks largely to this video.
Awesome! It's always great to bring back old pieces cause it goes so much faster, haha. But I'm glad I could kindle of the love of these pieces again. Makes me super happy.
I feel like, at a certain level we "move on" to harder pieces sometimes, and it's such a shame. The Nocturnes are incredible pieces and deserve to be played and programed so much more. I mean, you can't really go wrong programming a scherzo or ballade either I suppose, but still.
Literally every melody you play I go "I LOVE that one!". Especially the Ab, would be in my top 10 at least. But all of them really.
Haha, sweet. Glad you like them. Yeah, Chopin does that to you. It's fun for me to divide them between the ranks, but it is tough sometimes to put a killer piece into a low tier.
Agree with all S tier ones except maybe F minor. Biggest disagreement would be op. 55 no. 2. I'd put that in S also since the polyphony in the right hand is really well done. I also love the climax and ending. op 15 no. 1 and op 32 no 1 are also among my favorites but would be more A tier.
By the way, not sure how much you like them but, another interesting thing to rank would be Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues. Some are brilliant but others sound like mediocre student pieces.
Hmm, I know of the Shostakovich Prelude and Fugues, and messed around with playing one before, but never too seriously. I noticed that too. One I considered playing was so cool, and some just seemed like thrown together voices in a fugal style, so boring. But honestly, that would be a much safer tier list, haha. Ranking Chopin where basically every piece is great is way more controversial.
The 7th Nocturne, Op.27/1 (C# minor) is most definitely my top favourite, followed closely by the 10th, Op.32/2 (Ab major), the 13th, Op 48/1 (C minor), the 19th, Op.72/1 (E minor), the 1st, Op.9/1 (Bb minor), the 20th, Op.Posth (C# minor).
You lost me when you put 55 2 and 62 1 in F…. Those are at least A. Meanwhile 27 2 and 55 1 probably shouldn’t be S.
27 2 and 55 1 have some of the most memorable melodies
27/2 ABSOLUTELY is one of the best ones, I’d agree 55/1 probably isn’t S but it’s still high
Agree.. 55 2 is my favorite
62 no 1 is boring.
15/2 might be one of the best written nocturnes just structurally probably one of the best returns to the main theme maybe ever, if anything I would rate the op 32 37 nocturnes the lowest in comparison personally.
Yeah, Ab definitely got a bump up because I played it. That's hard not to do. I do love the B section so much, but the A section is less unique/special...beautiful for sure, but not breathtaking.
I was disappointed at 37 no 2 being at the bottom - I love the A section, B is fairly mid
... but then I was absolutely horrified to see you ranked 55 no 2 worse than that .. while 55 no 1 rests near your favourites D:
On a positive note, I agreed with 27 no 2 and 9 no 1
Nice list. The only ones I disagree with are three of your Fs-9/3, 62/1, 55/2-which I'd probably give B, A, S.
Cool, thanks for watching. Which ones would you drop down into the dreaded F tier?
Really shocked at op. 62 no. 1…. Easy s tier
Yeah, that's my biggest divergence from general opinion.
This ranking is not good imo. Opus 62 are awesome and op 55 no 2 does not deserve F tier either. You forgot about talking about op 15 no 2’s middle section which is really complex with four voices, and really beautiful
The F-sharp major middle section is absolutely sublime. Sad that you didn't consider it.
No9 in B major is a little story to me - it reminds me of an old man sat in his rocking chair, daydreaming about the past with his wife. Walking to the market, watering flowers, making lunch, sitting at the coffee shop etc. But suddenly the wind slams a door and he is startled back to reality - sitting alone in a cold room with no one for company.
55/2 in Eb is one of my favourites! The recapitulation of the main theme is so dramatic and romantic.
Great list though and enjoyed the video.
For me, opus 27/1 in C Sharp minor is the real star - so peaceful, yet rather scary. I admit not liking the popular E Flat one, or the E minor, or the C Minor (hate the over inflated octaves in the middle).I love no.15 also.
Op.9 no3 in B Major is my favorite of all the Nocturnes. There is a small but proud group of us who KNOW this is the greatest of the earlier Nocturnes!
Can’t say I agree with all of them but nice video regardless!
Thanks! What would you have at the top?
Hmm probably 48 1, 62 1, 27 2
Having played quite bit of them, i have to say the best is the one that I am playing, or listening ❤
Opus 55#2 and the two Opus 62 nocturnes are among the best music ever written by anyone ever.
#20 is an early piece that he didn’t even bother publishing. It was put out decades after he died.
I agree with most of your ranking but op.9 no 3 is beatiful and my favourite nocturne
For me it has to be the Nocturne no. 27 op. 1. It's from another world.
I must be old, I like the major nocturnes very much and find many superior to the ones you love
Interesting. Yeah, I tend to gravitate towards the darker ones. I especially like when the sad melodies become major part way through.
@@ryanabshier I am obsessed with op. 9 no. 1 but it is fun to see how others rank them. I was surprised of your lower tier choice for that great piece but what a fun video and I absolutely adore your candor.. keep crushing good sir
@@brandonmacey964 thanks, glad to hear people enjoy the style/pacing of the videos!
Hi Ryan! Great tier list! I'm on the same page as you for the most part, but I disagree strongly on a few of your choices. For one, I would put op 15 no 1 in the A tier. I absolutely love the striking contrast between the beautiful A section and the stormy B section. It kind of reminds me of his F major ballade with just how different the two parts are. Very cool imo.
I would also definitely put op 27 no 1 in S on the strength of the middle section and that beautiful coda.
Posth C# minor, op 55 no 1, and op 72 no 1 don't belong in S tier for me. I would probably put C# minor in B, op 55 no 1 in C and op 72 no 1 in F. I love all of the nocturnes, they're just not my favorites!
I would probably bump op 37 no 2 up to C just for the incredible middle section. Also I have to shout out Kate Liu's incredible performance here th-cam.com/video/mNPpmyCDOVE/w-d-xo.html at 37:06. She plays it much slower than average and I think it really elevates the material. I would even call it one of my favorite chopin nocturne performances even though it's not one of my favorite chopin nocturnes.
Also op 9 no 3 is 100% A tier for me. I like the chromaticism, but for me the best parts are the awesome march-like middle section and the incredibly emotional coda.
Anyway, thanks for the great video! I love these tier lists because they get me thinking about what my opinions are and how I would place each piece. Of course all of the nocturnes are great so it was a more than a bit tough to choose!
Thanks for checking it out and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing the recording too, I do like the tempo. I feel like many of the nocturnes are often played too fast. Like, we have flashy Chopin if you want that, but way do we feel the need to show off when playing nocturnes (with obvious exceptions in certain nocturnes).
How does the tier ranking work?
Op. 55 No. 2 in F tier is crazy. Easily one of the best nocturnes.
What is Op 37 No 2 doing in F tier that is blasphemous loll
All the nocturnes are transcendent no ranks
That's my next video idea right there. Just all S tiers. It would honestly be fun, but I'm assuming many would lose interest after a bit.
no 4 f major inst really dramatic i think its only the switch in character
Interesting to know that his C minor posthumous Nocturne was in fact his very first and considered by him not good enough for publication. We feel differently of course. Except for this crazy scale (35 notes to the bar as checked) it is not that difficult to play 😎
Thanks for checking out the video and the info. Yes, I didn't know that when I first looked at this piece years ago and wondered at first why such a "simple" nocturne was written at the "end" of his life. (Simple in complexity relative to the other later nocturnes). Then I remember seeing the composition date or someone pointed it out to me and the light bulbs went off. It makes a lot more sense in the context of an early piece.
@@ryanabshier The op 72 nr 1 posthumous one has a much more intricate structure. Many years ago when still being able to perform it, I made a recording on cassette & CD which will be played on my funeral. The simpler posthumous one has a fine mood though and the very last note is a hopeful one as Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam once noted ina documentary on Chopin.
Can you do the preludes next?
love the tier ranking! also a great way for me to discover new peices :) id love to see you rank the chopin waltzes/etudes :)
Sweet! Yeah, the Etudes is in my future for sure. I'm sure it'll be super controversial, haha, but also really fun. Glad you enjoyed the video!
How does the ranking work?
@@suemalone-crossman9402 the pieces he likes more get higher up in the tier list, the pieces he likes less, end up lower in the ranking:)
C#-minor and Db-major are such goated keys man
Not arguing there.
Love to find this channel! I really liked this video.
I agreed with almost everything. The S selection is just wild, love it. But, for me, C#minor would be A instead of S. Just for the ending, it's a lot of drama throughout the piace and I would have liked a more dramatic ending for that. But again, I also love that piece. I was plannig to learn it after the op9 n2
Thanks, glad you like the video and channel! Hope you enjoy learning Op 9 No 2, it's amazing. Will that be your first nocturne or have you played another before?
@@ryanabshier yes, I have played the n21 in Cminor, pretty nice to play
Next please do recordings, I have read great things about Moravec's Nocturnes.
Haha, you mean rather than me playing?
@@ryanabshier You're playing is excellent, but Moravec and Rubinstein? C'mon.
@gmnotyet But maybe I'm close to Rubenst....lol, you're right. I actually kind of like the idea, but I think playing while I talk is something I enjoy doing for the channel. I think it has more character then just listening and fewer channels can do it. Unless I review specifically talk about the way a great pianist plays pieces. That would be unique and a fun take on it.
Also, unfortunately copyright is a big issue ☹ Big channels have legal teams and stuff, I could get in trouble using the performances until they are public domain. Super annoying. I even get flagged for my own playing sometimes 😂😂😂😂 Like I sound like Richter on my yamaha keyboard.
Thanks for checking out the video!!!
M'y best #10
Can you PLEASE play the songs in the background I'm sure most of the people don't instantly recognize their opus and number. You can cut the music when you play your favorite parts.
Some of these nocturnes seem bad to you (relative to each other) because you play them without inspiration and don't hear what's special about them. Just something to consider.
I mean, I do like all the nocturnes. I mentioned that in the video several times. So I suppose you could say that about whatever I choose to rank lower. This is the issue with tierlists in general, it's hard to say I love something without it putting down something else. So I wouldn't agree that I don't hear what's special about them because they are up there with my favorite sets of pieces ever.
Now...did I practice playing all of them before filming...no, lol
I appreciate your response. I recommend actually looking at this nocturne in detail & playing through it. Cortot bashed it too, so you’re in good company. There is more than meets the eye there. Listen to Kate Liu’s performance and Trifonov’s. The voicing, the singing trills, the improvisational elements… they are truly special.
I understand that you don’t need to like all the nocturnes equally, but the innovation here is remarkable. It is a standout piece. That is why it is a favorite for so many of us.
As for sheer beauty, the middle section in op 15, no 2 - it is to die for when played right.
this means nothing
F minor rules
The C tier ranking of the E Major op62 nocturne is criminal. The middle part doesn’t move you? One of his best melodies, by far
Disputable
Good idea but, ranking based on each other? What are the criteria? Melody? Technical difficulty? Structure? Good ol' popularity?
Yea.... I completely dissagree so here goes my own list
(Best to worst)
S tier- op 37 no 2,op 15 no 2, op 27 no 2,op 9 no 1,no 62 no 2
A tier- op 48 no 1,op 62 no 1,op 48 no 2,op 9 no 3,op 27 no 1 and both op 32 in any order
B tier- op 15 no 1,op 37 no 1, op 55 no 2,op posth no 2 in c minor, op 72 no 1
C tier- op 55 no 1,op 9 no 2,op posth no 1 in C# minor, and op 15 no 3
Controversial i know but yea
I love them all tho
I don't know any pianists who would say that op 9 no. 2 is their favorite lol (seriously, I've never heard any pianist say that one is their favorite). It might be the one they learned first or know the best, but neither of those mean "favorite" lol
I've heard some really beginners saying that, but they are the type of people who play TikTok music
Honestly its my favorite but i only really know 3 so whatever
@@FirstnameLastname-jd4uq you should listen more to Chopin
this is wild
Ooooh, i love ranking videos
Sweet, hope you enjoyed it!
You should flip the c# minor nocturnes.
Not too far off from each other in my mind for sure. C# minor is a good key for Chopin.
Just discovered this channel, very insightful. I agree with a lot of the points you bring up with these. Your tierlist is legit
20:21 like how am i supposed to react here oh #17 B Major well that is a name i would never forget amongst 1 million pieces named exactly the same
Fool
I can't believe you put 17 in B major in F tier immediately... that's the best nocturne!😢
Not everyone can be winners. But yeah, I'm not in the majority on this one for sure.
@@ryanabshier haha it's cool man! I love your videos and keep coming out with the content please! Us piano players adore your stuff. 💙
Thanks! Sometimes the TH-cam comment section is a dark scary hole with the tier lists 😂 It's always nice to know people are enjoying the videos!!!
This ranking is more perplexing than the E major. The B major one is SUPERNAL
Thanks Ryan, l like the C sharp minor also.
Such a good key that just seems very Chopin
Ballade n1 is the greatest Chopin work has ever composed
i got shocked when you put op.62 no.1 in the F tier… the 2nd theme in D# minor has so much pain in it and i think it is one of his best works ever
You’ve lost me when you added op 9 no 3 to F tier. This is insane.
thanks so much! i learned to revist a few nocturnes and discovered a couple i hadn't heard...mostly agree with your list, esp. 48 1 being king.
Keep making videos! Amazing you will make it
Thanks so much. It feels like a slow, slow build sometimes so I hope you're right.
U should do the rondos those are very rare pieces or maybe ballades or polanaises
That's a great idea. It'd be a lot more discovery that way and I could play more or use more recordings. More like a "check out these hidden gems" vibe. Thanks for the suggestion.
Problem is there aren’t so many of those
@@ryanabshier did you do it yet? I would love to see it for the rondos and polonaises
Do the songs without words
Good suggestion. That would be a huge video but interesting for educational reasons too. Also, there are several I don't like so that would give me some easier F tiers then when I rank Chopin, haha.
@@ryanabshier Could be released in parts because the set is so long. Or you could limit the list to the most popular or compositionally interesting.
Bro you can do a tier list of the preludes, it would be great!!
Please!
op. 9 no 3 is my favorite!! haha
17:09 why does this matter?
@@FirstnameLastname-jd4uq i balance the tiers so someone does have to be C tier. I don't know if you've ever seen a video where, like, everything it at the top, lol. Just feels a little pointless to watch. So I try to roughly balance it out and make myself make tough decisions about which ones I really like more.
@@ryanabshier ok got it
15/2 on c is crazy take
Em is my fav 😊
Like. I can't really say it's underrated, but it feels like it deserves more love than it gets.
Hi Ryan, the screen is frozen.
Sometimes TH-cam premieres glitch. It probably froze when the premiere ended. Refreshing should fix it.
@@ryanabshier l will do it later today, thanks.
subbed
Thanks!
Not everyone understands the op 55 no 2, and most people don't like it.
You have to understand it to see it's beauty
For sure it's my favorite nocturne, love the countermelodies and singing qualities.
@@Souls_p_ it's also my favorite nocturne