Best edition of the Chopin nocturnes

Buy the Henle Urtext, HN 185, the paperbound one. Ewald Zimmermann edited it, Hans-Martin Theopold fingered it, it holds all 21 nocturnes with the posthumous ones, and Henle gives the critical commentary away as a PDF, all for €27.50 from Henle or $35.95 from its US distributor. The National Edition is the book for reading why each note is what it is, PWM calls the Paderewski its most famous, and Peters and the Mikuli reprints cost less.

The editions at a glance

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 download, so the pages carry the music and the fingering and little else. 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. The fingering is there when you want it, and the rest of the page stays on the music. Buy this one to learn the pieces.

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”. The pages are familiar and readable. Buy the Paderewski when your teacher uses it.

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. Buy it when you want to know why a note is what it is. 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. Buy the volume when you want fingering for $21.95, or a booklet when you are chasing every variant of one piece.

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. Buy the Schirmer when you want the notes for $12.99, and sight-read from it.

The pick

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.