The last concert Chopin gave in Paris took place on February 16, 1848. A week later the insurrection known as the February Revolution broke out and ended with the fall of King Louis Philippe, who hurried across the English Channel to Newhaven under an assumed name, Mr. Smith. But Mr. Smith did not flee alone, he took with him part of the aristocracy and with it a good number of Chopin's pupils.
Alone, in Paris
George Sand was not there either. The relationship had long since ended (not for the best, by the way). So Chopin was alone in a Paris bristling with barricades, and without students. Fortunately, he had a relationship with one of them, a student, a Scottish national, who was not interested in running away anywhere. On the contrary, Jane Stirling wanted to stay close to her master, with whom she was apparently in love.
Great Britain
The lady, six years Chopin's senior, invited him to Britain. Nothing kept Chopin in Paris, so in mid-April, he packed his bags and arrived in London on the 21st. He stayed on the island (he also visited Scotland) until November of that year, giving a few concerts and taking a couple of pupils, nothing significant. He returned to Paris without a penny. He had less than a year to live.
Nocturnes from opus 55
Composed between 1842-44, they were published in August 1844, dedicated to his enthusiastic Scottish pupil, Jane Stirling. Two nocturnes make up the opus: No. 1 in F minor, and No 2 in E flat major.
No 1, with its ternary structure (theme, second theme, return to the first theme), has a melodic line of extreme simplicity. Perhaps, for this reason, it is the more popular of the two. That's why it has also been included in the soundtrack of a couple of films.
The rendition is by the Israeli pianist Tzvi Erez.
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