Melodies of the Night

On the Piano

I've always been fascinated by nocturnes, musical compositions that are inspired by or evocative of the night. From the French word nocturnal, the term was first applied in the eighteenth century to a musical piece for an ensemble played in an evening party. The Italian equivalent the term, notturno, is also used.

Moods

The evening evokes certain moods to certain composers as reflected by their nocturnes. Generally gloomy, nocturnes express sadness, tranquility, and melancholy. Most modern composers, however, express happiness and life of the great evening outdoors.

Chopin-Hayez.jpg

The Composer:

Although it started with several movements, nocturne gradually evolved into a single movement piece for the piano. It usually consists of a singing melody on the right hand over an arpeggiated chord on the left hand. Most romantic composers wrote music in this form, most famous of which is Frederic Chopin.

Frederic Chopin -

Perhaps the most famous composer of nocturnes, Chopin is a Polish composer who was born in Żelazowa Wola (a village in Warsaw) on March 1, 1810. He grew up in Warsaw studying Bach and the Classical Viennese Composers. At age 20, he went to Paris to establish himself as a concert artist (piano), composer and teacher.

His works are mainly for piano solo. He invented musical forms such as ballade and made some innovations on existing ones like the sonata-form, waltz, etc. including the nocturne.

"No other great composer can surpass the time and effort devoted to the piano by Frederic Chopin."

The Nocturnes:

Opus 9

Opus 15

Others


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