Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., Lento con gran espressione, P 1, No. 16, KKIVa/16 by Frédéric Chopin

frederic chopin portrait

The Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor, Op. posth., Lento con gran espressione, P 1, No. 16, KKIVa/16, is a solo piano piece composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830 and published in 1870.

Chopin dedicated this work to his older sister, Ludwika Chopin, with the statement: "To my sister Ludwika as an exercise before beginning the study of my second Concerto".
First published 26 years after the composer's death, the piece is usually referred to as Lento con gran espressione, from its tempo marking. It is sometimes also called Reminiscence.

This Nocturne is featured in the 2002 Roman Polanski film The Pianist. It is played twice (both times incompletely) in the film, at the beginning and at the end, by the protagonist Władysław Szpilman, at the recording studio at Warsaw Radio. The complete piece is provided in the soundtrack, played by Polish classical pianist Janusz Olejniczak.

In 2018, Russian figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva used this Nocturne as the music for her Performance for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

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