He composed the E flat major nocturne during his stay in Vienna (1830/31), and the other two nocturnes likely date from this same period, or from his first months in Paris. These two models did not represent РІР‚Вeither/orРІР‚в„ў propositions: each opus also contains works whose experimental aspects complicate their classification.Р”В¬hopin included the OpР’В 9 set among the first works he published upon his arrival in Paris. But these nocturnes also engaged keenly with FieldРІР‚в„ўs pianistic vision of the genre, at times emulating it, but elsewhere staking out an alternative model-one that Robert Schumann in particular would link specifically to Chopin. Vocality stands to the fore in ChopinРІР‚в„ўs first two published sets of nocturnes, each containing three works.

However immeasurably Chopin broadened the expressive purview of the genre from its origins in pleasant sociability, he never lost sight of its essential vocal qualities. Every composer and performer of piano nocturnes in the first half of the nineteenth century grasped their rootedness in song: they all strove to make the piano РІР‚ВsingРІР‚в„ў, and (aided by developments in pedal technology and technique) to distinguish a lyrical РІР‚ВvoiceРІР‚в„ў from a supporting accompaniment. When the title appeared on works for solo piano (John Field, an Irish composer resident in Russia, probably started this practice around 1811), little changed generically: piano nocturnes were no less РІР‚ВsongsРІР‚в„ў for lacking words.

Across Great Britain and Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century, the title РІР‚ВnocturneРІР‚в„ў was most commonly attached to a kind of vocal piece, most often a duet, performed among family or friends to enliven an evening gathering (hence the name).

Chopin music nocturnes