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Nocturne

For the ancient form of Christian night prayer, seeNocturns.For other uses, seeNocturne (disambiguation)andNocturnes (disambiguation).

Anocturneis amusical compositionthat is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.

Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in G Minor, Op. 15, No. 3. The marking "languido e rubato", slow tempo, and subdued dynamics creates an evocative mood characteristic of nocturnes.

History

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The termnocturne(from Frenchnocturne"of the night" )[1]was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemble piece in several movements, normally played for an evening party and then laid aside. Sometimes it carried the Italian equivalent,notturno,such asWolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Notturno in D, K.286, written for four lightly echoing separated ensembles of paired horns with strings, and hisSerenata Notturna,K. 239. At this time, the piece was not necessarily evocative of the night, but might merely be intended for performance at night, much like aserenade.The chief difference between the serenade and the notturno was the time of the evening at which they would typically be performed: the former around 9:00 pm, the latter closer to 11:00 pm.[2]

In its form as a single-movementcharacter pieceusually written for solo piano, the nocturne was cultivated primarily in the 19th century. The first nocturnes to be written under the specific title were by the Irish composerJohn Field,[3]generally viewed as the father of the Romantic nocturne that characteristically features acantabilemelody over anarpeggiated,even guitar-like accompaniment. However, the most famous exponent of the form wasFrédéric Chopin,who wrote21 of them.Later composers to write nocturnes for the piano includeGabriel Fauré,Alexander Scriabin,Erik Satie(1919),Francis Poulenc(1929), as well asPeter Sculthorpe.In the movement entitled 'The Night's Music'[4]('Musiques nocturnes' in French) ofOut of Doorsfor solo piano (1926),Béla Bartókimitated the sounds of nature. It contains quiet, eerie, blurred cluster-chords and imitations of the twittering of birds and croaking of nocturnal creatures, with lonely melodies in contrasting sections. American composerLowell Liebermannhas written eleven Nocturnes for piano, of which No.6 was arranged by the composer as Nocturne for Orchestra. Other notable nocturnes from the 20th century include those fromMichael Glenn Williams,Samuel BarberandRobert Helps.

Other examples of nocturnes include the one fororchestrafromFelix Mendelssohn'sincidental musicforA Midsummer Night's Dream(1848), theset of threefor orchestra and femalechoirbyClaude Debussy(who also wrote one for solo piano) and the first movement of theViolin Concerto No. 1(1948) byDmitri Shostakovich.French composer Erik Satie composed a series of five small nocturnes. These were, however, far different from those of Field and Chopin. In 1958,Benjamin Brittenwrote aNocturne for tenor, seven obbligato instruments and strings,and the third movement of hisSerenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings(1943) is also titled "Nocturne".

Nocturnes are generally thought of as being tranquil, often expressive and lyrical, and sometimes rather gloomy, but in practice pieces with the namenocturnehave conveyed a variety of moods: the second of Debussy's orchestralNocturnes,"Fêtes", for example, is very lively, as are parts ofKarol Szymanowski'sNocturne and Tarantella(1915) andKaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji'sSymphonic Nocturne for Piano Alone(1977–78).

Principal composers of nocturnes

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^"Nocturne Definition from the Free Merriam-webster Dictionary".Merriam-webster.
  2. ^Hubert Unverricht and Cliff Eisen, "Serenade",The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,second edition, edited byStanley SadieandJohn Tyrrell(London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
  3. ^Brown, Maurice J.E. & Hamilton, Kenneth L. (2001). "Nocturne (i)". InSadie, Stanley&Tyrrell, John(eds.).The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians(2nd ed.). London:Macmillan Publishers.ISBN978-1-56159-239-5.‎
  4. ^Maurice J. E. Brown,inThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians(ed.Stanley Sadie), London: Macmillan Publishers, 1980, Vol. 13:[page needed].ISBN0-333-23111-2 ISBN978-0-333-23111-1pp. 258–59.
  5. ^Marc-André Roberge (2013-05-30)."Sorabji Resource Site: Titles of Works Grouped by Categories".Mus.ulaval.ca.Retrieved2013-06-30.

References

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