Notes: Nocturne in C minor Op. 48 No, 1 (No. 13)

  

The slow lento opening section with the marking mezza voce (half voice) has a sense of anguish created by the long lyrical melody above the thick plodding stride bass accompaniment. He creates a sense of journey through this section with the wondering tonality and the seemingly endless melody (created through dissonance always needing to be resolved). This leads to a restatement of the opening theme reharmonised with the driving power of a cycle of fifths building towards the dramatic leap up to the highest note of the section and the move onto a neapolitan chord that falls dramatically to towards the conclusion of this section with bare octaves and a chromatic descent into the middle section.



The middle section gives us some relief with a move to C major. There is the chorale like unity of melody and harmony and general sense of warmth with the thick chords and third at the top of the chord. However, this relief is temporary as fast triplets start to disrupt the stately chords, the chromaticism disrupting the comforting major tonality. It is as if the calming voice at the beginning of the section has to raise its voice to be heard above these interfering fast notes. Both elements grow in intensity with these fast triplets in octaves propelling us at full speed into a dramatically altered return of the first section. At first the middles section feels like calm resolution after the melancholy and anguish of the opening, but it really is only temporary as it gives way to the fantastic third section.



The return of the opening melody but “doppio movimento” (double speed) above the triplets introduced in the middle section creates a highly agitated and emotionally charged final section. The melodic direction remains similar as before and builds towards the restatement of the opening melody, but this time there is no warming neapolitan and the really good recordings the music continues its drive towards the cadence. The sudden interrupted cadence delaying the resolution of the piece and pushes into a short coda. The nocturne feels like it has sapped all of your energy and as the piece comes to conclusion the texture thins dramatically and single line rises to the tonic. The piece ends with 3 sombre c minor chords, as if there is nothing left to say or do. For me this nocturne is beautiful and powerful, full of melancholy. There is a sense of yearning and drive that always grabs me and pulls me along with the music.

I have 2 other nocturnes that I feel I should mention, but I will save you a detailed analysis - I just got a bit carried away talking about it, I guess that shows you how much I love the listening to the piece. As a pair of nocturnes, the Op. 27 nocturnes in C-sharp minor and D-flat major are great the tension between E and E-sharp (Fb and F) gives this wonderful major/minor ambiguity throughout the two nocturnes. Only in the coda of the second nocturne is this resolved. I also have a soft spot for the E minor Nocturne Op. 72 (sometimes Op. Post.) as it was the first nocturne I learnt to play properly and has similarities to the C minor Op. 48 No. 1, a sad minor section that gives way to relief in middle section in the dominant (major) before returning a little more agitated, however this one concludes peacefully with a return to the ideas of the middle section, but in the tonic major.