Two Nocturnes Op. 27 (1835)

No.1 in C sharp minor

No.2 in D flat major

Of the two Nocturnes written in 1835 for the Countess d’Apponyi, the second in D flat major is the more commonly performed. The first in C sharp minor is particularly interesting, however, for the peculiarly personal use Chopin makes of a common harmonic device - left-hand C sharp arpeggios omitting the third and a right-hand melody equivocating poignantly between the minor and major implications of E and E sharp respectively. Any of Chopin’s contemporaries might have had the idea but only he could have made anything as beautiful of it. In the end, incidentally the decision is made in favour of C sharp major, but only after and long and agitated middle section.

The attraction of the D flat major Nocturne is, above all, its highly decorative passages of purely pianistic figuration. It is a masterful example of continuous melodic development effortlessly sustained by the right hand over a regular arpeggio in the left. The same thematic material is presented three times over - each time in different harmonies and in different, spontaneously proliferating melodic decorations. The inspiration is in the detail.