| LC control no. | gf2017026144 |
|---|---|
| Thesaurus/term list | lcgft |
| Genre/Form term | Nocturnes (Music) |
| See also | Art music |
| Found in | Work cat.: RTE Sinfonietta. Romantic Ireland, ℗1996: disc label (Larchet: By the Waters of Moyle (Nocturne for Orchestra)) booklet p. 4 (smaller forms such as the nocturne for orchestra By the Waters of Moyle) Merriam-Webster dictionary online, Nov. 29, 2017 (nocturne: a work of art dealing with evening or night; especially : a dreamy pensive composition for the piano) COBUILD advanced English dictionary, via Collins website, Nov. 29, 2017 (A nocturne is a short gentle piece of music, often one written to be played on the piano) Oxford dictionaries online, Nov. 29, 20107 (nocturne 1. Music. A short composition of a romantic nature, typically for piano. 2. Art. A picture of a night scene) Britannica online, Nov. 29, 2017 (Nocturne. Alternative Title: notturno. Nocturne (French: "Nocturnal"), in music, a composition inspired by, or evocative of, the night, and cultivated in the 19th century primarily as a character piece for piano. The form originated with the Irish composer John Field, who published the first set of nocturnes in 1814, and reached its zenith in the 19 examples of Frédéric Chopin. In Germany the nocturne, or Nachtstück, attracted composers from Robert Schumann to Paul Hindemith (Suite for Piano, 1922). At the turn of the century Claude Debussy most successfully transferred the genre to the orchestra with his three brilliant pieces so entitled; The late 18th-century Italian notturno, a collection of lightweight pieces for chamber ensemble, bore little relation to the lyrical 19th-century nocturne. Like the serenades and cassations of Haydn and Mozart, however, it was intended, at least originally, for nocturnal, usually outdoor, performance) The Oxford companion to music, via Oxford music online, Nov. 29, 2017 (nocturne (Fr., 'of the night'; Ger.: Nachtstück). A 19th-century, Romantic piano piece of a slow and dreamy nature in which a graceful, highly embellished melody in the right hand is accompanied by a broken-chord pattern in the left. The title was first used by John Field, and was taken up by Chopin, whose 21 examples are unsurpassed. In the 20th century the term was also applied to pieces that depicted musically the sounds of night; for example in the fourth movement of Bartók's piano suite Out of Doors (1928), the noises made by insects, birds, and other night creatures are imitated.) The Oxford dictionary of music, via Oxford music online, Nov. 29, 2017 (Nocturne (Fr., 'pertaining to night'). A comp. which suggests a nocturnal atmosphere, e.g. Haydn's Notturnos for lira organizzata, Mozart's Serenata Notturna, but more specifically a short pf. piece of romantic character. First to use the title for this genre was John Field, followed by Chopin. An expressive melody in the right hand is accompanied in the left by broken chords) Grove music online, Nov. 29, 2017 (Nocturne (i) (Fr.; Ger. Nachtstück). A piece suggesting night, usually quiet and meditative in character, but not invariably so. The Italian term Notturno occurs frequently as a title in 18th-century music, but the French form of the word was not used until John Field applied it to some lyrical piano pieces written between about 1812 and 1836; Although the emotional range of most of Field's nocturnes is not wide, and the phrase structure sometimes tediously predictable, the restrained elegance of his musical language and imaginative keyboard figuration made a great impression on subsequent Romantic composers, especially Chopin, who admired both Field's playing and his compositions. Nocturnes were composed by most pianist-composers of the time, including Liszt (whose famous Liebesträume song transcriptions were subtitled 'nocturnes'), Schumann (Nachtstücke op.23), J.B. Cramer, Czerny, Kalkbrenner, Thalberg, Henri Bertini and Theodor Döhler among them. Chopin's 21 nocturnes, however, hold a pre-eminent place in the history of the genre; Although the apogee of the pianistic nocturne was reached with Chopin, it continued to be a popular genre. French composers were particularly attracted to the form: Fauré wrote 13 nocturnes, and Satie, d'Indy and Poulenc contributed to the repertory. Liszt's late works include the nocturne En rêve (1885) and celebrated nocturnes were also composed by Glinka, Balakirev, Tchaikovsky (op.10 no.1 in F major and op.19 no.4 in C♯ minor), Rimsky-Korsakov (Nocturne in D minor), Skryabin and Grieg (Notturno in C major op.54 no.4). Nocturnes were also written for orchestra; a well-known example is in Mendelssohn's incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, where the tone-colour of the horn is used, as in the 18th-century notturno, to evoke the image of night) |
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