Nocturne in E-flat major (Op. 9 No. 2)

Background

Chopin wrote this nocturne around 1830–31, when he was about twenty and leaving Warsaw for good, first for Vienna and then Paris. It was published in the early 1830s as the second of his three Nocturnes, Op. 9, which he dedicated to the pianist Marie Pleyel. It became his most famous nocturne almost at once and has stayed so.

The name and the basic idea came from the Irish composer John Field, who had invented the piano nocturne a generation earlier: a song-like melody floating over a wide, rippling left hand, with the sustaining pedal blending it all together. Chopin took that model and filled it with the decorations of Italian opera singing, which he loved. The piece is a series of returns. The opening tune comes back again and again, each time more ornamented, a little like a singer adding new flourishes on every verse. Chopin is known to have written extra variants into some of his pupils' copies, so even he did not play it identically every time.

How to practise it

The piece is in E flat major and 12/8 time: four beats in each bar, each beat divided into three eighth notes. Count "1-2-3, 2-2-3, 3-2-3, 4-2-3" until it feels like a slow rocking boat.

The left hand hardly ever changes its pattern: on each beat, a low bass note followed by two chords about two octaves higher. That leap, four times a bar, is the main technical job.

Practise the left hand alone for a week before worrying about the melody. Play the bass note, then move the hand towards the chord straight away, while still holding the bass note with the pedal. Look at the chord, not the bass; your hand will learn the distance down. Keep the chords softer than the bass notes.

Next, learn the melody in its plainest form, from the upbeat:

Sing it, then play it with a full tone and a free wrist. Add the ornaments of the later returns only when the plain tune flows. Treat the small, fast notes as part of the line: fit them in calmly, and do not let them push the left hand off its steady beat.

Near the end comes a short, brilliant passage high on the keyboard, where a little group of notes repeats several times. Learn it slowly in an exact rhythm first; once it is secure, you can play it more freely.

A plan:

1. Left hand alone at 40, then 50, then 60 beats a minute.
2. Right-hand melody alone, plain then decorated.
3. Hands together, one bar at a time, changing the pedal on each bass note or harmony.
4. Join phrases and shape them, letting the tune lean towards its high points.

The note lengths and rhythm guide is useful for counting compound time like 12/8.