nocturne

the night nocturne, (French: “Nocturnal”), in music, a composition inspired by, or evocative of, the night, and cultivated in the 19th century primarily as a character piece for piano.

nocturne in American English 1. a painting of a night scene. 2. a musical composition, esp. for the piano, of a romantic or dreamy character thought appropriate to night.

So a nocturne is usually a one-movement piece in free form. It's usually quite melodic, sometimes "dreamy" or romantic, rarely challenging to listen to, not unusual in harmonic structure, slowish (but not dead), sometimes florid but not virtuosic. Chopin wrote a lot of nocturnes, the ones that most people have heard.

The genre was developed by the Irish composer John Field, but Chopin expanded on this original conception producing what are generally considered to be among the finest short pieces ever written for the instrument. The Nocturne typically constitutes a romantic, dreamy character suggestive of the night.

They are typified by a tuneful and ornamented melody, with a left-hand accompaniment based on flat or broken chords. This tunefulness and the rich and refined ornamentation point to the vocal character of the melodic line, bringing to mind the bel canto Italian operatic style (Chopin was a great admirer of Bellini).

The Latin adjective nocturnus corresponds to English "nocturnal" and is attached to many different nouns, such as nocturnae horae (the hours of the night), nocturna tempora (nocturnal times), which are not necessarily connected with religion and are unrelated to the subject of this article.

The genre was developed by the Irish composer John Field, but Chopin expanded on this original conception producing what are generally considered to be among the finest short pieces ever written for the instrument. The Nocturne typically constitutes a romantic, dreamy character suggestive of the night.

We cannot really call the Nocturne a music style or even a specific form of music. A Nocturne could be defined as a n emotional or intimate moment between the artist and his audience. We could describe it as a single-movement, usually written for solo piano.

The nocturne opens with a legato melody, mostly played piano (quietly), containing graceful upward leaps which becomes increasingly wide as the line unfolds. This melody is heard again three times during the piece. With each repetition, it is varied by ever more elaborate decorative tones and trills.

classical music One of the greatest innovations made by Chopin to the nocturne was his use of a more freely flowing rhythm, a technique based on the classical music style. Also, Chopin further developed the structure of the nocturne, taking inspiration from the Italian and French opera arias, as well as the sonata form.

Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. The nocturne opens with a legato melody, mostly played piano (quietly), containing graceful upward leaps which becomes increasingly wide as the line unfolds. This melody is heard again three times during the piece.

Middle English nocturne, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin nocturnus, going back to Latin, feminine of nocturnus "of the night" - more at nocturnal.