Chopin Nocturne

Brooke Womack

Mr. Huey

Theory 4

Final Paper

Chopin Nocturne F# Op. 15 No. 2 Form Analysis

        This piece was composed in 1832 by Frederic Chopin. The Nocturnes, Op. 15 are a set of three nocturnes (No. 2 being one of them) that were written between 1830 and 1833. The work as a whole was published in January 1834 and was dedicated to Ferdinand Hiller. Frederic Chopin was born on March 1st on 1810 in Zelazowa Wola, Poland. He grew up in a middle class family. He published his 1st composition when he was only 7 years old and he began performing at age 8. In 1832 he moved to Paris became acquainted with the higher level of society and grew to become an excellent piano teacher. He was a highly influential man, and he died in Paris, France on October 17th 1849. When a key of a piece is chosen it is deliberate. Schumann’s opinion is that if you wanted the expression of the piece to reflect a simple emotion than you would chose a key that is close to C major in the circle of fifths. Overall F sharp is the key that stands out the most.

        There are three sections to the Nocturne in F# Major Op. 15 No. 2. The first is Larghetto. Larghetto means “somewhat slow; not so slow as largo, but usually slower than andante”. This section is composed of an ornamental melody over an even eighth note bass.

        The section section is entitled “doppio movimento” which means double speed. It resembles a scherzo with a dotted eighth-semi eighth