Milestones of Musical Romanticism 3
M. Zachary Johnson
March 23, 2005
-Chopin's Nocturnes-
Frederic Chopin introduced some of the last key aspects of musical romanticism and completed the 19th-century romantic sound. He is responsible for major innovations in composition for the piano, in playing technique and interpretation, and in harmony.
Chopin's Nocturnes are perhaps the most distinctively "Chopinesque" of his pieces. They have the unforgettable lyrical melodies, the sumptuous harmonies, the rhythmic complexity, and the overall expressiveness and sheer beauty characteristic of his music. A nocturne or "night piece" is a slow, lyrical, soothing or meditative composition for the piano.
"What gives Chopin's nocturnes their family resemblance is precisely their yearning, searching, often darkling mood. In the hands of Haydn and Mozart, a *notturno* had been an orchestral serenade. John Field, the Irish virtuoso who was St. Petersburg's most fashionable piano teacher in the early nineteenth century, published the first piano pieces to be called nocturnes, by which he meant evocations of night moods, and Chopin, who knew Field, appropriated the idea. Field, to judge by his sane, pellucid nocturnes, felt the same by night as by day. Not so Chopin, whose moods deepened as the shades of night fell." (Brockway & Weinstock, *Men of Music*)
In the Nocturnes we hear Chopin's distinctive harmonic palette, with its characteristic chromaticism. “Chromaticism” -- a term derived from the Greek “chroma,” meaning color -– means “employing tones outside the diatonic scale.” Auditorially, chromaticism adds richness or spice to the music; emotionally, it introduces complexity and depth. The key to the successful use of chromatic notes is to fit them into the harmonic structure of the music in such a way that the music does not degenerate into cacophony. No one has been more brilliantly successful at this integration than Chopin.
Good performances of the Nocturnes also illustrate a type of playing for which Chopin was famous: melodic rubato. Melodic rubato is a performance technique in which the pianist plays the melody at certain moments ever so slightly out of sync with the accompaniment. In applying melodic rubato, a pianist would keep the left-hand accompaniment going strictly in tempo while his right hand plays the melody more freely, with less strict rhythmic precision. This has the effect of throwing the melody into relief, of highlighting the melody by offsetting it slightly from the accompaniment.
"[Chopin] was celebrated for his unprecedented rubato, in which his right hand played with a flexible, wandering rhythm over the left hand's strict tempo, a union of freedom and control that would hardly be equaled again until the advent of jazz in the twentieth century." (Swafford, *The Vintage Guide to Classical Music*)
To purchase recommended recordings of Chopin's nocturnes and other piano music, and to see other recommendations in the "Milestones of Musical Romanticism" series, visit:
http://www.TIADaily.com/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=995
Frederic Chopin introduced some of the last key aspects of musical romanticism and completed the 19th-century romantic sound. He is responsible for major innovations in composition for the piano, in playing technique and interpretation, and in harmony.
Chopin's Nocturnes are perhaps the most distinctively "Chopinesque" of his pieces. They have the unforgettable lyrical melodies, the sumptuous harmonies, the rhythmic complexity, and the overall expressiveness and sheer beauty characteristic of his music. A nocturne or "night piece" is a slow, lyrical, soothing or meditative composition for the piano.
"What gives Chopin's nocturnes their family resemblance is precisely their yearning, searching, often darkling mood. In the hands of Haydn and Mozart, a *notturno* had been an orchestral serenade. John Field, the Irish virtuoso who was St. Petersburg's most fashionable piano teacher in the early nineteenth century, published the first piano pieces to be called nocturnes, by which he meant evocations of night moods, and Chopin, who knew Field, appropriated the idea. Field, to judge by his sane, pellucid nocturnes, felt the same by night as by day. Not so Chopin, whose moods deepened as the shades of night fell." (Brockway & Weinstock, *Men of Music*)
In the Nocturnes we hear Chopin's distinctive harmonic palette, with its characteristic chromaticism. “Chromaticism” -- a term derived from the Greek “chroma,” meaning color -– means “employing tones outside the diatonic scale.” Auditorially, chromaticism adds richness or spice to the music; emotionally, it introduces complexity and depth. The key to the successful use of chromatic notes is to fit them into the harmonic structure of the music in such a way that the music does not degenerate into cacophony. No one has been more brilliantly successful at this integration than Chopin.
Good performances of the Nocturnes also illustrate a type of playing for which Chopin was famous: melodic rubato. Melodic rubato is a performance technique in which the pianist plays the melody at certain moments ever so slightly out of sync with the accompaniment. In applying melodic rubato, a pianist would keep the left-hand accompaniment going strictly in tempo while his right hand plays the melody more freely, with less strict rhythmic precision. This has the effect of throwing the melody into relief, of highlighting the melody by offsetting it slightly from the accompaniment.
"[Chopin] was celebrated for his unprecedented rubato, in which his right hand played with a flexible, wandering rhythm over the left hand's strict tempo, a union of freedom and control that would hardly be equaled again until the advent of jazz in the twentieth century." (Swafford, *The Vintage Guide to Classical Music*)
To purchase recommended recordings of Chopin's nocturnes and other piano music, and to see other recommendations in the "Milestones of Musical Romanticism" series, visit:
http://www.TIADaily.com/php-bin/news/showArticle.php?id=995
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