Nocturnes, Week 3

John Field

Nocturne No. 3- This Nocturne is certainly the most advanced technically out of the three we were assigned. This nocturne is also interesting to me because usually one associates the melody as being the material that is most varied on each repetition, however in this piece it seems that Field found his variations on the accompaniment to be the most exploratory. The passage ‘piu moderato’ passage at the key change is very odd sounding and very striking on the first listen.

Nocturne No. 5- I was initially captured by the haunting nature of sound that Field’s composition captures from the piano. I questioned what would make a Chopin Nocturne “better” than this, in the sense that Chopin’s Nocturne’s have stood the test of time more so than Field’s. I believe that Field’s composition here is about beauty in simplicity, but perhaps is too restrained. The piece has no real development of its material; the initial motive is immediately re-used as an inversion, and always appears in its original key. The piece only changes in rhythmic texture when the ornaments are added on the second page, but still do not amount to anything extraordinary. The harmonic texture is also very thin for when the second voice enters in the right hand it maintains a rather mundane alto repetition. I think that for what it is it is extraordinary to listen to, and I imagine that Field saw the simplicity as one of the better qualities of his music.

Nocturne No. 8- I notice an immediate resemblence to the Chopin Nocturne in E-flat. This Nocturne has 4 distinguishing characteristics that define the genre for me…

1) Use of the turn

2) Repeated melodic notes which form common tones above striking chord progressions

3) Chromatic embellishment

4) Use of slow dance rhythms

This piece for me is much more advanced harmonically than the No. 3 and No. 5, and also is the most alike to a Chopin-like sound. I find this one more complex partly because the melodic content does not repeat much, nor can I divide it into motives like I could with No. 5.

Chopin

Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 3- Thoughts I had while listening to this nocturne…

1) What aspects of this sound like a night piece?

2) Did Chopin purposely intend to stretch the limits of Alberti-like figurations?

3) Did he compose normal melodies and then attach the notes with chromatic scales, or did he originally conceive the melodies this way?

4) Did the use of odd rhythmic relationships play an important structural role or are they grouped out of necessity to fit the increased number of notes in?

I am immediately able to see why audiences attached more to Chopin’s etudes than to Field’s. Chopin took a calm and haunting genre and made it into something virtuosic, not only from a technical standpoint but also in the difficulties presented to the mind of both the listener and performer.

Nocturne, Op. 27 No. 1- My first thought on this Nocturne is that the use of the chromatically altered notes as melodic notes is very surprising. More often than not it seems that the melodic notes in a Nocturne function as common-tones between modulatory chord progressions, however in this Nocturne the altered notes are used most often as the featured melodic ideas. I also find the use of the Phrygian minor 2^nd scale degree over the top of a V chord to be very striking, especially since it becomes a major-minor 7^th chord with a raised 5^th. The ‘piu mosso’ section is interesting in the way that Chopin uses a very small amount of melodic material with a large amount of technically and musically intensifying attributes. He repeats motives at higher octaves and raising chromatic levels. He also uses vibratory techniques to increase tension in the listener. I wonder if Chopin’s love of J.S. Bach inspired him to end this piece in the major key or if it was more of a Beethoven “triumph through struggle”.

Nocturne, Op. 62 No. 1- I obviously have to comment on the originality of beginning the piece on an elongated ii7 chord. Out of all the nocturnes we have listened to this one is certainly my favorite. This one certainly evokes the atmosphere of night the most for me, and I feel that this is also the most song-like. I find it interesting that Chopin only reaches a loud dynamic once at a seemingly random show of virtuosic brilliance. The harmonies here seem to aid the melody in carrying on as if from a voice and not from a piano. The trills add a new dimension to the dolce feeling by making it seem almost like a wimpering or a fluttering.

Nocturne, Op. 62 No. 2- It is definitely the case that I prefer Chopin’s Nocturnes which are in common-time, rather than a waltz-like rhythm. I prefer this style of atmosphere as well, as opposed to dance-inspired, romance-inspired, or angered sounding. This nocturne seems to me to be more of a pouring out of emotion and soul. The harmonies and melody change from major to minor, as well as the textures that change from simple and song-like to highly layered. These traits in the same work make me feel as if the work is inspired by an evolution of emotions and a traveling through memories.