Nocturnes, Op. 9 (Chopin)

The Nocturnes, Op. 9 are a set of three nocturnes written by Frédéric Chopin between 1830 and 1831 and dedticated to Madame Camille Pleyel.

Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1

This nocturne has a rhythmic freedom that came to characterise Chopin’s later work. The left hand has an unbroken sequence of quavers in simple arpeggios throughout the entire piece, while the right hand moves with freedom in patterns of eleven, twenty, and twenty-two notes. The lightness of the opening section moves into a sterner middle section, which flows back to the opening material in a transitional passage where the melody floats above seventeen consecutive bars of D-flat major chords. The reprise of the first section grows out of this and the nocturne concludes peacefully.

Nocturne in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2

The popular nocturne is in rondo form, although the first episode repeats in a more ornamented manner before the commencement of the second, with every further repeat employing the ornamentation. Thus the form can be written A A' B A' B A' C. Unusually for a rondo, the tempo is andante, giving a tender, floating melody. The last episode takes the somewhat unorthodox senza tempo (without time) in the penultimate bar.

Nocturne in B major, Op. 9 No. 3

It is in the ternary form A-B-A .the first section (Allegretto).The second contrasting section(Agitato)is a very dramatic one with a combined melody & counter-melody in the right hand and triplets in the left hand throughout this section which needs a great amount of virtuosity. The piece is full of coloratura ornaments, and ends with a wide chord in the left hand accompanied with (senza tempo) right hand triplets in a high octave to lead to a legatissimo smorzando adagio

External links

• Hear the performance of the Op. 9 No. 2 Nocturne with original cadenzas at The Chopin Project
• Free scores by Nocturnes Op. 9 at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Nocturnes, Op. 9 (Chopin) at the Mutopia Project.