Nocturne No. 19 in E Minor

Chopin’s Nocturne in E minor (1827), published posthumously as Op. 72, No. 1, is most likely the first example of the genre he composed when he was a teenager living in Warsaw. The influence of John Field’s nocturnes is clear—indeed, Chopin found the comparison flattering—and the more personalised developments through which Chopin made the genre his own lay in the future, not least the introduction of contrasting middle sections. This nocturne has a simple structure, with a broad melody set against continuous triplet arpeggio figurations. The form’s vocal origins are especially apparent in passages where Chopin’s melody diverges into parallel thirds and occasionally sixths, a common texture in vocal nocturnes set as duets. After an increase in lyrical urgency, with more elaborate ornaments, louder dynamics and the melodic line played in octaves, Chopin presents a ruminative coda in E major, fading quietly in a halo of tonal resolution. About Chopin's Nocturnes In the early 19th century, a nocturne was usually a work for voice, often a duet performed to enliven a domestic evening, an evocation of moonlit stillness or dreams of love. The title was first applied to a solo piano work by John Field, an Irish composer living in St Petersburg, who retained the quality of song, albeit without words. Chopin adopted this and, as so often with genres he made his own, elevated it to a new level of individuality and expressive richness. Chopin never lost sight of the form’s vocal origins—the bel canto style of Italian opera is another key influence—and his 21 Nocturnes remain, unlike Field’s, a core part of the piano’s repertoire.