Nocturne No. 21 in C minor, Op. posth.
Nocturne Piano solo
In brief

This Nocturne unfolds in an introspective, slightly unsettled mood, with singing phrases that call for careful shaping of the melodic line rather than flashy virtuosity. The main technical issues are Legato (2.5/5), requiring a smooth, connected delivery of the right-hand melodic voices through controlled finger release and wrist support, and Tempo rubato (2.5/5), which involves tasteful small time shifts to breathe the line while maintaining the underlying pulse — concrete gestures of wrist control and finger independence. It is a posthumous piano nocturne, placed among Chopin's lyrical nocturnes and treated as part of the repertoire published after his death rather than tied to a clearly dated period.

MusicCoach difficulty
58/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 46–70/100
Confidence : 39% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6 to 7

Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.

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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Relative difficulty
38%
Among Frédéric Chopin
69%
Era
41%
Genre
Estimated skills
Style
Character and style
1
Pedaling
Half-pedalling
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Interpretation
Singing voice
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.

See the whole progression