Op. 15 No. 1

Two Nocturnes, Op.15 [1830-1831]

No.1 in F major

No.2 in F sharp major

Chopin’s Nocturnes have their adventurous episodes too. The elegantly poised main themes of the most characteristic of them tend however, unlike that of the Fourth Ballade, to keep out of trouble. There is is little in the serene opening section of the Nocturne in F major - the first of the three published as Op.15 in 1833 - to indicate that a con fuoco middle section is about to intrude in extraordinarily fierce F minor harmonies. There is equally little in the F major closing section to indicate that any such thing has happened in the meantime. The quicker middle section of the Nocturne in F sharp major is less dramatic but no less disturbing. Again the expressive melody of the opening section returns unscathed and, in this case, so unconcerned as to luxuriate in an intricately voluptuous improvisation of melodic decoration.