Nocturne no. 1 in Bb Major

Performance (played by Rubinstein)

Here

Structure

This piece loosely follows the ABA structure mentioned before. It is in a 6/4 time signature and Bb major. It comes out at 85 bars. The piece starts with a dark melody in the right hand, occasionally played with light ornaments. This is our main theme, and this melody continuously plays and changes until the middle section. The left hand accomponies this with light arrpeggios, using soothing progressions to help the melody move along and modulate.This formula becomes a staple of Chopin's nocturnes, and repeatedly returns through his pieces and many other composer's pieces. This later modulates to Db major, serving as a perfect segway to the middle section, which happens to be in the same key. The middle section is an almost direct contrast to the main theme, with melancholy octaves played over the same style arpeggios in the left hand. Eventually, this modulates back into the main theme which is played for the past 15 bars.

Signifigance

As mentioned previously, the left hand arrpeggios present in this piece left enormous impressions on all who heard it, composers and otherwise. This inspired many to write pieces in a similiar fashion, creating an influx of nocturne-style pieces. This surge was initially pushed to popularity from the set releasing in the first place. With this three set of pieces, the idea of a nocturne was completely formed into what it is known as today by Chopin.

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