Two Nocturnes, Op.32

No.1 in B major

No.2 in A flat major

Because of a superficial conformity to the John Field prototype, the Nocturne in B major, Op.32, No.1, is believed by some commentators to have been written at some earlier date than the 1836 usually ascribed to it. The problem with that theory is that the Nocturne is not as conformist as, for much of its duration, it seems. It is true that there is no more characteristic example of ornate vocal melody elegantly poised over a wide-space arpeggio accompaniment than the main theme of the Nocturne in B major. It is also true that the F sharp major middle section does not seriously disturb the atmosphere, in spite of the minor harmonies that are touched on here and there. But, even though a suitable transition is set up no fewer than three times, the opening theme never returns. Instead, just at the point where it seems that at last it will, a quietly sinister drum beat intervenes at the bottom of an alien chord. A brief but dramatic protest cannot prevent the unhappy B minor ending.

The companion Nocturne, Op.32, No.2, does at least conform to the ternary pattern. In fact, it has an additional framework formed by the two-bar cadential chord progression which, paradoxically, opens the piece and which, logically, closes it. In the meantime there is an unaffectedly charming first section based on a Schumannesque melody in A flat followed by an urgently impulsive episode in F minor and a both fortissimo and appassionato recall of the main theme. Just what those unlikely directions imply as to the tempo and dynamic pressure to be applied to an essentially unheroic material (marked lento and sempre piano e legato on its first appearance) is one of the many interpretative problems associated with Chopin’s piano music.