Form
While meters and keys vary, the nocturnes are generally set in ternary form (A-B-A), featuring a melancholy mood, and a clear melody floating over a left-hand accompaniment of arpeggios or broken chords. Repetitions of the main theme generally add increasingly ornate embellishments, notably in Opus 9 No. 2 in E♭. From the 7th and 8th nocturnes onwards, Chopin published them in contrasting pairs, although each can stand alone as a complete work. Exceptions to the ternary form pattern include Opus 9 No. 2 and Op. 55 No. 2 in E♭, neither of which contain a contrasting section, Op. 15 No. 3 in binary form with a novel coda, and Op. 37 No. 2 in ABABA form.
The tempo marking of all but one of the nocturnes is a variation of Lento, Larghetto or Andante, the Allegretto of No. 3 breaking the mould.
Read more about this topic: Chopin Nocturnes
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