Best edition of the Chopin nocturnes
Henle HN 185 at €27.50, then Paderewski, the National Edition, and Peters.
Henle HN 185 is €27.50, or $35.95 from its US distributor: Ewald Zimmermann’s text, Hans-Martin Theopold’s fingering, all 21 nocturnes plus the posthumous ones, and the critical commentary as a free PDF. The National Edition is $29.95, the Paderewski edition is $30, Peters EP 1904 is $21.95, and the Schirmer Mikuli reprint is $12.99.
The editions at a glance
| Edition | Editor | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henle Urtext HN 185, paperbound | Ewald Zimmermann, fingering Hans-Martin Theopold | Fingered urtext, commentary as a PDF | €27.50 / $35.95 |
| Henle Urtext HN 233, clothbound | Same text and fingering | Same text, clothbound | €44.00 / $57.95 |
| Paderewski edition (PWM) | Paderewski, Bronarski, Turczyński | The long-standing text, fingered | $30.00 |
| National Edition 5A (PWM) | Jan Ekier, Paweł Kamiński | Source and performance commentary | $29.95 |
| Peters EP 1904 | Herrmann Scholtz, Bronisław von Poźniak | The cheapest complete fingered set | $21.95 |
| Peters, The Complete Chopin (one nocturne per booklet) | Christophe Grabowski, ed.-in-chief John Rink | Every variant of one piece | $11.95 each |
| Mikuli reprints: Schirmer vol. 1550, Dover | Carl Mikuli | The notes for the least money | $12.99 / $29.95 |
Henle Urtext, HN 185 and HN 233
Both numbers are the same book: Zimmermann’s text, Theopold’s fingering, 132 pages at 23.5 by 31 cm, the nocturnes Chopin published plus the posthumous ones, with the Lento con gran espressione in C♯ minor printed in two authentic versions. HN 185 is paperbound at €27.50 ($35.95 in the US) and HN 233 is the same pages in cloth at €44.00 ($57.95). Henle keeps the critical commentary out of the book and offers it as a free PDF. Henle rates the nocturnes 5 to 7 on its 1 to 9 scale, where 4 to 6 is medium and 7 to 9 is difficult.
Paderewski edition (PWM)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Ludwik Bronarski and Józef Turczyński edited the complete works for PWM, and the Nocturnes are one of the 21 volumes, 136 pages at 9 by 12 inches, $30.00. PWM says it rests mainly on Chopin’s autographs, copies he approved and the first editions, and calls it the most famous and popular edition of his works. Jan Ekier began the National Edition because he judged that it gave “a false image of Chopin’s music in many aspects”.
National Edition, series A volume 5 (PWM)
Jan Ekier and Paweł Kamiński edited the Nocturnes volume, Op. 9 through Op. 62, 140 pages for $29.95. The whole edition ran to 37 volumes between 1967 and 2010, the International Chopin Piano Competition recommends it to contestants, and Paul Badura-Skoda called it “the best available Chopin edition made with extreme care and precision”. Each volume carries a source commentary that explains every editorial decision and a performance commentary that realises the ornaments, comments on the pedal marks and suggests the “harmonic legato” Chopin used. Series A is the works Chopin published himself, so the posthumous nocturnes are not in this volume.
Peters, EP 1904 and The Complete Chopin
Herrmann Scholtz and Bronisław von Poźniak edited the Peters volume, all 21 nocturnes with a thematic index and fingerings, 102 pages at 9.1 by 11.9 inches, $21.95. Scholtz’s three-volume Chopin for Peters was the standard edition for a long time, and this is the cheapest complete fingered set from a major publisher. Peters now also sells The Complete Chopin, edited by Christophe Grabowski under John Rink, one nocturne per booklet at $11.95: the text of the French first edition, then a second version that gathers every variant Chopin wrote down so you can build your own.
Mikuli reprints: Schirmer and Dover
Carl Mikuli was Chopin’s student and teaching assistant, and Dover says his edition reflects what Chopin imparted to him in word and deed. Two reprints carry it: Schirmer’s Library volume 1550 has 19 nocturnes, Op. 9 through Op. 72 No. 1, in 98 pages for $12.99, and Dover’s Nocturnes and Polonaises has 20 nocturnes and 11 polonaises in 224 pages for $29.95.
A Chopin Left Hand study edition is $9 a piece, or $59 for all 21: Chopin’s right hand as written, one root-position chord per harmony, the symbol above the staff and the numeral below.
One piece, or all 21
The Nocturnes set is all 21 for $59. Op. 9 No. 2 is 34 bars and four pages, and its page shows the form and the opening chords free. Arrangements that change the notes are compared in simplified Chopin editions, compared, and everything else worth owning is in best resources for learning Chopin.