Frédéric François Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic
era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has
maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of
his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a
professional technique that was without equal in his
generation."
The Two Nocturnes, Op.27--dedicated to Mme. la Comtesse
d'Appony--are Chopin's third publication in the genre.
Many feel these two works to be among the very best of
his com...(+)
Frédéric François Chopin (1810 – 1849) was a
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic
era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has
maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of
his era, one whose "poetic genius was based on a
professional technique that was without equal in his
generation."
The Two Nocturnes, Op.27--dedicated to Mme. la Comtesse
d'Appony--are Chopin's third publication in the genre.
Many feel these two works to be among the very best of
his compositions; they are certainly two of the most
powerful--and, as fate would have it, famous--nocturnes
he ever penned. The composer's conception of nocturne
form (and sentiment), as embodied here, is virtually
unrecognizable as the same genre he inherited from
Irish composer John Field. The Nocturne in D-flat
major, Op.27, No.2 is of a different sentiment
altogether, exploring the many sides of just one basic
mood rather than presenting the kind of dramatic
conflicts contained within its immediate predecessor.
Two strophes are repeated three times each, varied with
ever greater ingenuity upon each reiteration (the piece
is one of the composer's most graceful essays in
fioritura ornamental practices). The opening melody
will be familiar to many who nevertheless cannot
identify it by name (a fragment of the gesture melody
even found its way into one of the James Bond movies,
cleverly used in conjunction with deep-sea imagery).
The static atmosphere of the opening (a wandering
melody floating upon an unchanging D-flat major
background) is broken up by the unexpected intrusion of
the minor subdominant a few bars later. The powerful
main cadence of the piece (near to its end, but not
actually the final cadence) is surely one of the most
glorious moments in Chopin's entire output: the
elaboration of an otherwise elementary 4-3 suspension
by means of arpeggiation in the right hand is
magical-the actual acoustic effect is more like that of
stacked fourths. It is a rare listener, indeed, who
will remain unmoved by such an outburst of genius.
Although originally composed for solo piano, I created
this interpretation of the Nocturne in Db Major (Op. 27
No. 2) for Flute, Oboe & Classical Guitar.
PARTITION