Yet, the triplets of the previous 6/8 persist through creating tension with the duple rhythms of the melody. Changing to the key of the tonic minor, the episode adopts a duple meter. The tranquil scene of the opening section is contrasted by the dramatic and agitated middle section. Imbued with a waltz-like charm, the opening melody gracefully unfolds before the listener. Though overshadowed by its companion, the third nocturne of the set, in B major, rightly deserves its place among Chopin’s finest works. A brief cadenza and tranquil tonic chords close the nocturne. No true episode ever coalesces-merely a gently descending passage in the dominant key connecting the successive statements of the melody. Stated simply at first, it is varied with florid ornamentation upon each restatement. Its vocalise melody, though in the major key, is tinged with moments of melancholy, around which the entire nocturne revolves. Undeniably among Chopin’s most popular compositions, the middle nocturne, in E-flat major, is the shortest and most closely related to the simpler nocturnes of John Field. A new, but related, melodic idea over an austere accompaniment of fifths precedes the return of the opening B-flat minor melody.

Beginning with a touch of solemnity, the melody of the episode acquires a unique beauty in its persistent sidestep into the key of D major and equally agile return to D-flat. This dream-like section, and its reprisal at the end of the piece, frames a tender central episode in D-flat major. The Nocturne in B-flat minor, first of the set, begins with a delicate but supple melody over a gently rocking accompaniment.

With the exception of a solitary Nocturne in E minor, composed in 1827, but not published until after the composer’s death, the opus 9 nocturnes represent Chopin’s first foray into the genre pioneered by Field. His opus 9, published in 1833 and dedicated to Madame Camille Pleyel, consisted of three nocturnes composed between 18. Invented by the Irish composer John Field, it was nonetheless Frédéric Chopin that greatly popularized the nocturne-a short one-movement composition for the piano evocative of the ethereal visions of nighttime.

Chopin nocturne e flat major op.9 no.2