Nocturne in C-sharp minor (posthumous)
Nocturne Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This Nocturne in C-sharp minor has a twilight intimacy, with suspended melodic lines that convey restrained reverie rather than overt drama. Technically, it will require a very sustained legato (4.4/5): connect the right-hand notes with relaxed fingers and precise attacks so the melody reads as a single singing line, and careful use of the sustain pedal (4.4/5) to keep resonance without smearing harmonies, releasing it cleanly at harmonic changes. As a posthumous piece, it sits among Chopin's nocturnes published after his death and exemplifies his taste for intimate, lyrical piano miniatures.

MusicCoach difficulty
53/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 40–65/100
Confidence : 71% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
On the syllabus: Grade 7 ABRSM

Official level, taken from the exam syllabus.

Other syllabi : Trinity_London Grade 5 · RCM Grade 5

Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.

Where this work sits
050100

Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.

The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.

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Difficulty sources
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 5
42/100 normalised · 2 obs.
ABRSM (syllabus)
Grade 7
66/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
26%
Among Frédéric Chopin
59%
Era
19%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Interpretation
Singing voice
1
Technique
Legato
2
Interpretation
Phrasing
2
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

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