What is the genre of nocturne. Nocturne Genre in European Instrumental Music of the 19th–20th Centuries
The nocturne genre originated in the Middle Ages. Then the nocturne was called a part of the religious Catholic service, performed between midnight and dawn (like Orthodox matins). The nocturne emerged from the number of purely religious genres in the 18th century, turning into a chamber work performed at night in the open air (Nachtmusik). The classical nocturne had nothing to do with the modern understanding of the genre (it was not a lyrical miniature) and was often written in the form of a sonata-symphony cycle (for example, Mozart's Little Night Serenade).
The nocturne is usually based on a widely developed melodious melody, thanks to which the nocturne is a kind of instrumental song. Usually nocturnes are written for the piano, but there are similar compositions for other instruments, as well as for ensembles and orchestras.
The first composer to write nocturnes in the modern sense of the word was John Field. He created 18 piano nocturnes, which are still included in the repertoire of pianists.
The piano nocturne genre reached its further flourishing in the work of Frederic Chopin. He wrote 21 such plays. In the early works of Chopin (for example, in the famous nocturne Es-dur, Op. 9 No. 2), Field's influence is noticeable; later, the composer began to complicate the harmony and even use a freer form.
Nocturne has become a real hallmark of romanticism. In the classical concept, the night was the personification of evil, classical works ended with a triumphant victory of light over darkness. Romantics, on the contrary, preferred the night - the time at which the soul reveals its true features, when you can dream and think about everything, contemplating the quiet nature, not burdened by the hustle and bustle of the day. Chopin's nocturne is perhaps the most famous of the romantic ones; it was the nocturne texture (a captivating melody hovering above the accompaniment, consisting of bass and rhythmic figuration of exquisite harmony) that became the composer's hallmark. Robert Schumann sensitively depicted Chopin's musical style by placing his original musical portrait in one of the pieces of the Carnival piano cycle (No. 12 - lyrical nocturne).
Nocturnes were also written by Karl Czerny, Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Russian composers - Glinka (he wrote two of his nocturnes under the impression of Field's music), Balakirev, Tchaikovsky and other composers.
Among the orchestral compositions of this genre, the most famous is the nocturne from Felix Mendelssohn's music to Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Three nocturnes ("Clouds", "Celebrations", "Sirens") are an outstanding example of impressionistic music.
- Nocturne (from French nocturne - “night”) is the name of plays (usually instrumental, less often vocal) of a lyrical, dreamy nature that has spread since the beginning of the 19th century. The French word nocturne was first used in this sense by John Field in the 1810s, although the Italian term notturno existed as early as the 18th century and referred to music played outdoors.
The nocturne genre originated in the Middle Ages. Then the nocturne was called a part of the religious Catholic service, performed between midnight and dawn (like Orthodox matins). The nocturne emerged from the number of purely religious genres in the 18th century, turning into a chamber work performed at night in the open air (Nachtmusik). The classical nocturne had nothing to do with the modern understanding of the genre (it was not a lyrical miniature) and was often written in the form of a sonata-symphony cycle (for example, Mozart's Little Night Serenade).
The nocturne is usually based on a widely developed melodious melody, thanks to which the nocturne is a kind of instrumental song. Nocturnes are usually written for the piano, but there are also similar compositions for other instruments, as well as for ensembles and orchestras.
The first composer to write nocturnes in the modern sense of the word was John Field. He created 18 piano nocturnes, which are still included in the repertoire of pianists.
The piano nocturne genre reached its further flourishing in the work of Frederic Chopin. He wrote 21 such plays. In the early works of Chopin (for example, in the famous nocturne Es-dur, Op. 9 No. 2), Field's influence is noticeable; later, the composer began to complicate the harmony, and even to use a freer form.
Nocturne has become a real hallmark of romanticism. In the classical concept, the night was the personification of evil, classical works ended with a triumphant victory of light over darkness. Romantics, on the contrary, preferred the night - the time at which the soul reveals its true features, when you can dream and think about everything, contemplating the quiet nature, not burdened by the hustle and bustle of the day. Chopin's nocturne is perhaps the most famous of the romantic ones; it was the nocturne texture (a captivating melody hovering above the accompaniment, consisting of bass and rhythmic figuration of exquisite harmony) that became the composer's hallmark. Schumann sensitively depicted Chopin's musical style by placing his original musical portrait in one of the pieces of the Carnival piano cycle (No. 12 - lyrical nocturne). Nocturnes were also written by Karl Czerny, Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Russian composers - Glinka (he wrote two of his nocturnes under the impression of Field's music), Balakirev, Tchaikovsky and other composers.
Among the orchestral compositions of this genre, the most famous is the nocturne from Felix Mendelssohn's music to Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Claude Debussy's Three Nocturnes ("Clouds", "Celebrations", "Sirens") are an outstanding example of impressionistic music.
In the 20th century, some composers tried to rethink the artistic essence of the nocturne, using it to display not lyrical night dreams, but ghostly visions and natural sounds of the night world. This was started by Robert Schumann in the Nachtstücke cycle, this approach was more actively manifested in the works of Paul Hindemith (Suite "1922"), Bela Bartok ("Night Music") and a number of other composers.
A nocturne is a small instrumental piece of a dreamy lyrical nature these days.
French nocturne means "night". This name in its French and Italian versions has been known since the Renaissance and meant instrumental night music of a light entertaining nature.
Night music became widespread in the 18th century. This genre flourished especially magnificently in Vienna, a city that at that time lived an intense and very peculiar musical life. Music was an important part of the various entertainments of the Viennese; it sounded everywhere - at home, on the street, in numerous taverns, at city festivities. Music invaded the night silence of the city. Numerous amateur musicians organized night processions with music, performed serenades under the windows of their chosen ones. This kind of music, intended to be performed outdoors, was usually a kind of suite - a multi-part instrumental piece. Varieties of this genre were called serenades, cassations, divertissements and nocturnes. The difference between one variety and another was very small.
The fact that the nocturnes were intended to be performed outdoors determined the features of this genre and the means of performance: such pieces were usually written for an ensemble of wind instruments, sometimes with strings.
It is interesting to note that the night music of the 18th century did not at all bear the languid and lyrical nature that arises in our imagination when we talk about the nocturne. This character of the work of this genre acquired much later. The nocturnes of the 18th century, on the contrary, are distinguished by a cheerful, by no means “nightly” tone. Often such suites began and ended with a march, as if depicting the arrival or departure of musicians. Samples of such nocturnes are found in I. Haydn and W. A. Mozart.
In addition to instrumental nocturnes, in the 18th century there were also vocal-solo and choral nocturnes.
In the 19th century, the nocturne genre was rethought in the work of romantic composers. Nocturnes of the Romantics are no longer extensive night suites, but small instrumental pieces.
dreamy, thoughtful, calm nature, in which they sought to convey various shades of feelings and moods, poetic images of nocturnal nature.
Nocturne melodies in most cases are distinguished by melodiousness, wide breathing. The nocturne genre has developed its own, “nocturne-like” texture of accompaniment; it is a swaying, swaying background that evokes associations with landscape images. The compositional structure of the nocturnes is a 3-part form, i.e. one in which the 3rd part repeats the 1st; while usually the extreme, calmer and lighter parts are opposed by the excited and dynamic middle.
The tempo of nocturnes can be slow or moderate. However, the middle (if 3 parts) is usually written at a more lively pace.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, nocturnes are written for solo instrumental performance and mainly for the piano. The creator of the romantic-type piano nocturne was the Irish pianist and composer John Field (1782-1837), who lived most of his life in Russia. His 17 nocturnes created a style of gentle, melodious piano playing. The melody of these nocturnes is usually melodious, melodic.
Nocturne, a poetic genre of romantic music, could not fail to attract the most poetic of the romantic composers, Frederic Chopin. Chopin wrote 20 nocturnes. Their main emotional tone is dreamy lyrics of various shades. In his work, the nocturne reached the highest artistic perfection, turned into a concert piece, significant in content. Chopin's nocturnes are diverse in character: bright and dreamy, mournful and thoughtful, heroic and pathetic, courageously restrained.
Perhaps the most poetic piece by Chopin is the nocturne in D flat major (op. 27, no. 2). The ecstasy of a warm summer night, the poetry of a nightly date sound in the gentle and passionate music of this play. The main theme, as it were, is imbued with a lively and quivering human breath.
In the middle part of the nocturne, one can hear growing excitement, but it again gives way to the main clear and bright mood that dominates this piece. The nocturne ends with a wonderful duet-conversation of 2 voices.
Following Chopin, many Western European and Russian composers turn to the nocturne genre: R. Schumann, F. Liszt, F. Mendelssohn, E. Grieg, M. Glinka, M. Balakirev, A. Rubinstein, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninoff, A. .Scriabin.
The genre of nocturne occupies a rather significant place in the work of Russian composers. The nocturnes of the Russian classics capture perhaps their most sincere statements.
Composers of a later period turn to this genre as well. Rachmaninoff's 4 youthful nocturnes attract with freshness and sincerity (3 of them were written at the age of 14).
Of the nocturnes written for the orchestra, one can recall Mendelssohn's nocturne, Debussy's Nocturnes. However, if Mendelssohn's nocturne retains all the stylistic features of this genre, then Debussy's orchestral works - "Clouds", "Celebrations", and "Sirens", - called by the author "Nocturnes", are very far from the usual interpretation of the genre. These pieces are contemplative-coloristic musical pictures. Giving them the names "nocturnes", the composer proceeded from the subjective impression generated by the color and play of night light.
Soviet composers relatively rarely turn to the nocturne genre in its traditional meaning. Giving their works the name "nocturne", modern composers usually borrow from this genre only the general character and general figurative orientation of music - they emphasize the intimate and lyrical side of the work.
In general, it is hardly accidental that today the nocturne is increasingly found in combination with other genres or is, as it were, a program subtitle of any work. This can be seen as a manifestation of a general trend, a general pattern in the development of the genre.
Thus, in our time, the name "Nocturne" acquires to some extent a programmatic character. However, the program itself, the circle of images and moods that the composer wants to emphasize, calling the work a nocturne.
Nocturne- a characteristic genre of romantic music, a kind of lyrical miniature - is distinguished by its original theme.
The very word "nocturne" means "night". The sad poetry of twilight light, the ghostly glow of the moon or the night thunderstorm raging in the darkness, shifting the boundaries of the real, were transformed into visions shrouded in a mysterious haze, inseparable from a personal feeling, from the mood that gripped the artist. Images of the night in various aspects - pictorial and expressive, descriptive and psychological - are a frequent occurrence in poetry, painting, and music of the 19th century. Varieties of this genre were called serenades, cassations, divertissements and nocturnes. The difference between one variety and another was very small.
The fact that the nocturnes were intended to be performed outdoors determined the features of this genre and the means of performance: such pieces were usually written for an ensemble of wind instruments???, sometimes with strings.
It is interesting to note that the night music of the 18th century did not at all bear the languid and lyrical nature that arises in our imagination when we talk about the nocturne. This character of the work of this genre acquired much later. Nocturnes of the 18th century, on the contrary, are distinguished by a cheerful, by no means “nightly” tone. Often such suites began and ended with a march, as if depicting the arrival or departure of the musicians. Samples of such nocturnes are found in I. Haydn and V.A. Mozart.
In addition to instrumental nocturnes, in the 18th century there were also vocal-solo and choral nocturnes.
In the 19th century, the nocturne genre was rethought in the work of romantic composers. The nocturnes of the romantics are no longer extensive night suites, but small instrumental pieces, of a dreamy, thoughtful, calm nature, in which they sought to convey various shades of feelings and moods, poetic images of the night nature.
Nocturne melodies in most cases are distinguished by melodiousness, wide breathing. The nocturne genre has worked out its own, “nocturne-like” texture of accompaniment; it is a swaying, swaying background that evokes associations with landscape images. The compositional structure of the nocturnes is a 3-part form, i.e. one in which the 3rd part repeats the 1st; while usually the extreme, calmer and lighter parts are opposed by the excited and dynamic middle.
Nocturne has become a real hallmark of romanticism. In the classical concept, the night was the personification of evil, classical works ended with a triumphant victory of light over darkness. Romantics, on the contrary, preferred the night - the time when the soul reveals its true features, when you can dream and think about everything, contemplating the quiet nature, not burdened by the hustle and bustle of the day.
Chopin's nocturne is perhaps the most famous of the romantic ones; it was the nocturne texture (a captivating melody hovering above the accompaniment, consisting of bass and rhythmic figuration of exquisite harmony) that became the composer's hallmark. Schumann sensitively depicted Chopin's musical style, placing his original musical portrait in one of the pieces of the Carnival piano cycle (No. 12 - lyrical nocturne). Nocturnes were also written by Karl Czerny, Franz Liszt, Edvard Grieg, Russian composers - Glinka (he wrote two of his nocturnes under the impression of Field's music), Balakirev, Tchaikovsky and other composers.
The tempo of nocturnes can be slow or moderate. But at the same time, the middle (if 3 parts) is usually written at a more lively pace.
In the overwhelming majority of cases, nocturnes are written for solo instrumental performance and mainly for the piano. Nocturne, a poetic genre of romantic music, could not fail to attract the most poetic of the romantic composers, Frederic Chopin. Chopin wrote 20 nocturnes. Their main emotional tone is dreamy lyrics of various shades. In his work, the nocturne reached the highest artistic perfection, turned into a concert piece, significant in content. Chopin's nocturnes are diverse in character: bright and dreamy, mournful and thoughtful, heroic and pathetic, courageously restrained.
Perhaps the most poetic piece by Chopin is the nocturne in D flat major (op. 27, no. 2). The ecstasy of a warm summer night, the poetry of a nightly date sound in the gentle and passionate music of this play. The main theme, as it were, is imbued with a lively and quivering human breath.
In the middle part of the nocturne, one can hear growing excitement, but it again gives way to the main clear and bright mood that dominates this piece. The nocturne ends with a wonderful duet-conversation of 2 voices.
The genre of nocturne occupies a rather significant place in the work of Russian composers. The nocturnes of the Russian classics capture perhaps their most sincere statements.
The priority in creating the musical genre of nocturne belongs to John Field. He outlined the main contours of this romantic lyrical miniature. But the graceful form, beautiful piano texture did not save his pieces from a certain salon sensibility, which narrowed the scope and impact of Field's nocturnes. Chopin's genius brought a great and long life to this new genre. He transformed Field's nocturne, which was modest in design and pianism, putting into his works an enormous power of lyrical feeling, tragic pathos or gentle elegiacism and melancholy. Enriching the inner content of musical images, dramatizing the form, Chopin does not overstep the boundaries that are natural for small forms of chamber music.
The soulful lyricism of Chopin finds its specific means of expression in the nocturnes. With purely Mozartian generosity, Chopin sprinkles his beautiful melodies into them. Extremely expressive, direct, they sound like a naturally flowing song, like a living human voice. In the nocturnes, the song, vocal origins of Chopin's melody are most obvious. Here his special propensity for ornamentality of the melodic pattern is manifested. Finely written, filigree finished melismatics constantly varies and renews the sound of the melody.
The ratio of lyrical melody and accompaniment is characteristic. Often the accompaniment is a harmonic figuration that covers a wide range; its chordal tones are arranged in wide intervals, corresponding to the acoustic nature of the overtone scale. As a result, the illusion of a long pedal sound, a deep “breathing” background, as if enveloping a soaring melody, is created.
Despite the multiplicity of shades of lyrical imagery, Chopin sets his own creative task for each piece, and its solution is always individual. And yet nocturnes can be grouped according to some common compositional techniques. There are nocturnes of the Field type - a kind of "song without words". They are based on one musical image; the upper voice leads the melody, the remaining harmonic voices form an accompaniment to it. But even such nocturnes by Chopin differ from Field's in their deep content, creative imagination, and intonational expressiveness of the melody. The intensity of melodic development brings elegiac melodies to a high degree of tension and drama. Even the earliest nocturnes can serve as an example: e-moll, op. 72[(posthumous) or Es-dur, op. 9.
But for the majority of Chopin's nocturnes, the presence of two sharply contrasting images is typical. This manifests a great complexity of content, which in turn leads to an enrichment of the form, and the sharpness of contrasts to the dramatization of the genre itself. Examples of this type of composition are nocturnes op. 15, F-dur and Fis-dur.
In both cases, the three-part form logically follows from the opposition of the slow extreme parts with cantilena melody to the moving and restless middle parts (The complex three-part form is especially common in nocturnes. A return to the original image causes plastic completeness, symmetry of construction, inherent in Chopin's forms. However, for Chopin always finds individual solutions for each work.). Despite the similarity of the compositional plan and the general contours of the form, the internal relationships, the very type of contrast, are different.
The evolution of the nocturne genre
The first composer to write nocturnes in the modern sense of the word was John Field. He created 18 piano nocturnes, which are still included in the repertoire of performers.
John Field was the creator of the nocturne in the current sense of the word. If in the 18th - early 19th centuries, nocturnes were called musical works for wind instruments close to cassation and instrumental serenade, then it was John Field who created the nocturne as a genre of piano music. In addition to a large number of piano pieces, including 18 nocturnes, "Kamarinskaya", several sonatas, variations, fantasies, rondos and fugues, J. Field wrote seven concertos for piano and orchestra.
John Field was primarily known to his contemporaries as a virtuoso pianist. As a composer, J. Field was evaluated later. Now his nocturnes and some other piano pieces are included in the repertoire of many leading pianists.
The creative achievements of J. Field in this area, his innovation was highly appreciated by F. Liszt: “Before J. Field, piano works inevitably had to be sonatas, rondos, etc. Field introduced a genre that did not belong to any of these categories , a genre in which feeling and melody have supreme power and move freely, not constrained by the fetters of violent forms.It opened the way for all those compositions that later appeared under the name "Songs without words", "Impromptu", "Ballads", etc. ., and was the ancestor of these plays, intended to express inner and personal experiences. He opened these areas, providing for fantasy more refined than majestic, for inspiration rather tender than lyrical, as new as noble field ".
J. Field's composing and performing style is distinguished by melodiousness and expressiveness of sound, lyricism and romantic sensuality, improvisation and sophistication. Singing on the piano, one of the most important features of Field's performing style, was so captivating for M. Glinka and many other outstanding Russian musicians and music connoisseurs. Fil'd's melodiousness was akin to Russian folk song. M. Glinka, comparing the manner of performance of J. Field with the playing of other famous pianists, wrote in "Notes" that "J. Field's playing was often bold, capricious and varied, but he did not disfigure art with charlatanism and did not chop cutlets with his fingers, like a larger parts of the newest fashionable drunkards".
J. Field's nocturnes are of great importance. F. Liszt is right when he says that his nocturnes are improvisations, fantasies. Indeed, J. Field, writing unconsciously, finds a form suitable for the nature of the feelings that currently fill his soul. But not only in this internal respect, J. Field should be considered the predecessor of F. Chopin: the nature of his nocturnes also follows from the nature of the instrument. It cannot be said that L. Beethoven did not understand the meaning of the piano, but while playing it and composing for it, he was influenced by orchestral and chamber music, while J. Field composed, adapting to the specificity and distinctive character of the piano. Both J. Field and F. Chopin wrote exclusively for the piano. Their melody is separated from the accompaniment, resembling vocal singing, while the accompaniment is adapted exclusively to performance on the piano. Movable figurations, beaded ornaments, the character of the passages, the use of the pedal, which until then played no role, the development of melodious playing, thanks to the use of various touches - all this is due to the character of the instrument, begun by J. Field and completed by F. Chopin and F. Liszt. To assess the musical activity of J. Field, an article by Franz Liszt is important, prefaced by the publication of Field's Nocturnes (Schubert et Co.) and reprinted in Russian translation in the journal "Pantheon and the Repertoire of the Russian Stage" (1851, vol. II, No. 4, art. 22--26). Franz Liszt expresses the following thoughts about J. Field's nocturnes: “30 years have passed since the appearance of Field's nocturnes, and much composed after them is outdated, they have not lost their freshness and will never lose, since they flow directly from the soul of a composer gifted with rare qualities; they are distinguished by innocence without any affectation and will always remain examples of ingenuous grace, melancholic naivete and tender, languid self-forgetfulness. Before the appearance of J. Field's nocturnes, rondos or sonatas were composed, J. Field created a new kind of composition, in which the expression of feelings and singing are in the foreground, and already in the second - the form of the composition; he is the inventor of the compositions known as "songs without words", "ballads", "barcoroll", "impromptus", etc."
The piano nocturne genre reached its further flourishing in the work of Frederic Chopin. He wrote 21 such plays. In the early works of F. Chopin (for example, in the nocturne Es-dur, Op. 9 No. 2), the influence of J. Field is noticeable. Later, the composer began to complicate the harmony, and even use a freer form.
The musical thoughts of F. Chopin were born in improvisations at the piano and clothed in purely pianistic sounds. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, in the performance of F. Chopin himself, with his characteristic rubato and the changeable nature of interpretation, the improvisational origin of his music was clearly palpable. The new emotional atmosphere of this music - its intimate moods, poetic freedom, the subtlest play of chiaroscuro, airiness, unsteadiness, elusiveness - all this was embodied through a special system of musical expression, inextricably linked with the new coloristic possibilities of the piano. Instinctive comprehension of the nature of overtone sounds on the piano, the most subtle development of the expressive possibilities of the pedal background and pedal mixing of harmonic nuances gave rise to F. Chopin a new pianistic texture, which is the most important integral element of the expressiveness of the theme itself. F. Chopin's theme is not only unthinkable outside of its purely pianistic attire, but often its entire artistic meaning lies in the peculiarities of the pianistic texture. The effects of melting and dissolving in space, the effects of merging several sound planes, growing and fading echoes, enveloping the sound, timbre coloring of the theme, like many others, contributed to the fact that the musical themes of F. Chopin lost their rectilinear relief and affected the listener with their elusive romantic mood .
Melody is rarely shown in F. Chopin in the form of a simple "song", opposed to harmonic voices. It usually merges with the enveloping textural and harmonic background.
Nocturne has become a real hallmark of romanticism. In the classical concept, the night was the personification of evil, classical works ended with a triumphant victory of light over darkness. Romantics, on the contrary, preferred the night - the time when the soul reveals its true features, when you can dream and think about everything, contemplating the quiet nature, not burdened by the hustle and bustle of the day. F. Chopin's nocturne is perhaps the most famous of the romantic ones. It was the nocturnal texture (a captivating melody hovering above the accompaniment, consisting of bass and rhythmic figuration of exquisite harmony) that became the composer's hallmark. R. Schumann sensitively portrayed the musical style of F. Chopin, placing his original musical portrait in one of the pieces of the piano cycle "Carnival" (No. 12 - lyrical nocturne). Nocturnes were also written by Karl Czerny, Edvard Grieg, Franz Liszt. The music of F. Liszt's nocturne "Dreams of Love" is dedicated to Caroline Petrovna Wittgenstein, the greatest love in the life of the great composer. The love story, unfortunately, is tragic and does not have a happy ending, but thanks to it, the world musical culture has been enriched with many beautiful melodies. Russian composers - M. Glinka (he wrote two of his nocturnes under the impression of the music of J. Field), M. Balakirev, P. Tchaikovsky.
M. Glinka - nocturne "Separation". M. Glinka in his autobiographical “Notes” has only one brief mention of the “Separation” nocturne, from which we learn that the nocturne was written for his sister, Elizabeth Ivanovna, in the marriage of Fleury. And although this work is published without a dedication, we now know to whom it was intended. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that the nocturne was indeed dedicated to E. I. Fleury, because we do not know either the autograph or the first edition carried out by the Odeon company in 1839. So, we cannot exclude the possibility that her name could be on the title page of the first - lifetime - edition. The nocturne came to us in the edition of F. T. Stellovsky in the appendix to the magazine "Musical and Theater Bulletin" for 1858. A year after Glinka's death and 20 years after the creation of the work! Secondly, this evidence determines the context of the composer's work, in which the nocturne fits, and thus prompts us to look at this work among the recognized Glinka masterpieces. Thirdly, interesting information can be extracted from this document along the way, concerning the composer's creative laboratory. It turns out that some of his masterpieces contain certain musical ideas that did not originally belong to them, but were intended for some other works. Having found, however, their place where we see them now, they are unusually harmoniously combined with new musical ideas.
Nocturne "Separation" is a creation of a mature master. M. Glinka made a great and valuable contribution to Russian piano literature. Piano creativity accompanied him throughout his life. M. Glinka's love for this instrument was inextricably linked with all artistic activity, with his high performing skills. Possessing excellent pianistic skills, he showed himself to be a thoughtful performer from a young age. He took lessons from the then famous pianist John Field, who, as a composer, became famous precisely for his piano nocturnes, which influenced not only M. Glinka, but also F. Chopin.
Among the orchestral compositions of this genre, the most famous is the nocturne from Felix Mendelssohn's music to W. Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Nocturne by F. Mendelssohn from the suite "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Ein Sommernachtstraum) -- concert overture (op. 21) and music by Felix Mendelssohn for William Shakespeare's comedy of the same name (op. 61).
The overture was completed on 26 August 1826 and was first publicly performed in February 1827 in Szczecin under the direction of Karl Loewe. At first, F. Mendelssohn did not intend to supplement the overture with other parts.
In 1841, King Frederick William IV, who was delighted with the theatrical music of F. Mendelssohn for the tragedy Antigone by Sophocles, which was performed at the New Palace in Potsdam, suggested that the composer compose more works of this genre. F. Mendelssohn accepted the order and during 1843 added 10 more parts to the overture, thus turning it into a suite. The first performance of the music for the comedy took place on 14 October 1843 at the Potsdam Palace. The overture has 11 movements, the sixth is a nocturne.
Work on the overture proceeded quickly: in a letter dated June 7, 1826, F. Mendelssohn wrote about his intention to compose an overture, and a month later the manuscript was ready. According to R. Schumann, “the flowering of youth is felt here, as, perhaps, in no other work of the composer, the finished master made his first takeoff in a happy moment.” A Midsummer Night's Dream opens the composer's period of maturity. The first performance of the overture took place at home. F. Mendelssohn played it on November 19, 1826 on the piano four hands with his sister Fanny. The premiere took place on February 20 of the following year in Stettin under the baton of the famous composer Karl Löwe (together with the premiere in this city of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony). And the author himself conducted it for the first time in London on Midsummer Day - June 24, 1829.
17 years after writing the overture, F. Mendelssohn - a renowned composer, pianist and conductor, director of symphony concerts of the Royal Chapel and the Dome Cathedral Choir in Berlin - again turned to the play A Midsummer Night's Dream. W. Shakespeare's comedy was staged for the birthday of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV: the premiere of the performance took place on October 14, 1843 in the theater hall of the New Palace in Potsdam, and 4 days later - in the Schauspielhaus in Berlin. The success was huge - precisely thanks to Mendelssohn. Never before has music contributed so much to the popularity of a Shakespearean play.
Claude Debussy's three nocturnes ("Clouds", "Celebrations", "Sirens") are an outstanding example of impressionistic music.
The famous French composer Claude Debussy created three nocturnes, each of them for a different orchestral composition. They were conceived by the composer in 1894, when his first mature symphonic work, The Afternoon of a Faun, had not yet been completed. In one of his letters to the Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaye, he said that he was working on three Nocturnes for solo violin and orchestra. The orchestra of the first is represented by strings, the second by flutes, four horns, three trumpets and two harps. The orchestra of the third combines both. In general, this is a search for various combinations that the same color can give, as, for example, in painting a study in gray tones. However, the next year the idea changes, and for three years Debussy has been working on three "Nocturnes" for a symphony orchestra.
"Clouds". Orchestra composition: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, timpani, harp, strings.
"Celebrations". Orchestra composition: 3 flutes, piccolo flute, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 2 harps, timpani, snare drum (in the distance), cymbals, strings.
"Sirens". Orchestra composition: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 harps, strings; female choir (8 sopranos and 8 mezzo-sopranos).
The premiere of "Nocturnes", held in Paris on December 9, 1900, was not complete. Under the direction of Camille Chevillard, only "Clouds" and "Celebrations" sounded, and "Sirens" joined them a year later, on December 27, 1901. This practice of separate performance was preserved a century later - the last "Nocturne" (with the choir) sounds much less frequently.
The Nocturnes program is known from C. Debussy himself. According to the author, the title "Nocturnes" has a more general and, in particular, more decorative meaning. Here the point is not in the usual form of the nocturne, but in impressions and a sense of light.
"Clouds" is a motionless image of the sky with gray clouds slowly and melancholy floating and melting; receding, they go out, gently tinted with white light.
"Celebrations" is a movement, a dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with explosions of sudden light, it is also an episode of a procession (dazzling and chimerical vision) passing through the holiday and merging with it; but the background remains all the time - this is a holiday, this mixture of music with luminous dust, which is part of the general rhythm.
"Sirens" is the sea and its infinitely varied rhythm. Among the waves silvered by the moon arises, crumbles with laughter and the mysterious singing of the sirens is removed.
At the same time, other author's explanations have been preserved. Concerning the "Clouds", C. Debussy told his friends that this is a look from the bridge at the clouds driven by a thunderstorm; the movement of a steamboat along the Seine, the whistle of which is recreated by a short chromatic theme of an English horn. "Celebrations" resurrect the memory of the former amusements of the people in the Bois de Boulogne, illuminated and flooded with a crowd. And the trio of trumpets is the music of the republican guard playing dawn. According to another version, the impressions of the meeting of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II in 1896 by Parisians are reflected here.
Many parallels arise with the paintings of French Impressionist artists who loved to paint flowing air, the brilliance of sea waves, and the variegation of the festive crowd. The title “Nocturnes” itself originated from the name of the landscapes of the English Pre-Raphaelite artist James Whistler, which the composer became interested in in his younger years, when, after graduating from the conservatory with the Rome Prize, he lived in Italy, at the Villa Medici (1885-1886). This passion continued until the end of his life. The walls of his room were decorated with color reproductions of paintings by D. Whistler. On the other hand, French critics wrote that the three "Nocturnes" by C. Debussy are a sound recording of three elements: air, fire and water, or an expression of three states - contemplation, action and rapture.
The "clouds" are painted with thin impressionistic colors of a small orchestra (from copper, only horns are used). The unsteady gloomy background is created by the measured swaying of the woodwinds, forming fancy sliding harmonies. The peculiar timbre of the English horn enhances the modal unusualness of the short main motive. The color brightens in the middle section, where the harp enters for the first time. Together with the flute, she leads a pentatonic theme into the octave, as if saturated with air; it is repeated by solo violin, viola, cello. Then the gloomy melody of the English horn returns, echoes of other motives arise - and everything seems to float away into the distance, like melting clouds.
"Celebrations" form a sharp contrast - the music is impetuous, full of light and movement. The flying sound of stringed and wooden instruments is interrupted by sonorous exclamations of brass, tremolo timpani and spectacular glissandos of harps. A new picture: on the same dancing background of the stringed oboe leads a fervent theme, picked up by other wind instruments in an octave. Suddenly everything breaks. A procession is approaching from afar (three trumpets with mutes). The hitherto silent snare drum (in the distance) and low brass ones enter, building up to a deafening climax of the tutti. Then light passages of the first theme return, and other motifs flicker, until the sounds of the festival fade away.
In "Sirens" again, as in "Clouds", a slow pace dominates, but the mood here is not twilight, but illuminated by light. The surf is quietly splashing, waves are running in, and in this splash one can distinguish the alluring voices of sirens; repeated chords without words of a small group of women's choir complement the sound of the orchestra with another whimsical color. The smallest motifs of two notes vary, grow, intertwine polyphonically.
They echo the themes of the previous Nocturnes. In the middle section, the sirens' voices become more insistent, their melody more extended. The variant at the trumpets unexpectedly approaches the theme of the English horn from Clouds, and the similarity is even stronger in the roll call of these instruments. At the end, the singing of the sirens fades, as the clouds melt and the sounds of the festival disappear in the distance.
Nocturnes by other composers are also known, for example, by F. Schubert:
Arrangement of V. Matejka's composition - nocturne for flute, violin and guitar; F. Schubert in 1814 added a cello part, significantly revised the composition, wrote an additional variation in 3 parts and a second trio to the minuet. Another composition - for piano trio - Nocturne Es-dur op.148 (written around 1828)
In the 20th century, some composers tried to rethink the artistic essence of the nocturne, using it to display not lyrical night dreams, but ghostly visions and natural sounds of the night world. This was started by Robert Schumann in the Nachtstucke cycle. Tune in to listen, you can imagine: "Now there will be gentle, dreamy music." But what is? A march sounded ... Yes, yes, a slow march. And then lively, excited music follows, and marching and dancing rhythms clearly appear in it. There is neither dreaminess nor that soft lyricism that is so common in nocturnes. Nocturnes by R. Schumann are conceived in a very unusual way. Each of them, as the composer noted in one of his letters, also has a special title: “Funeral Procession”, “Strange Society”, “Night Orgy”, “Round Dance with Solo Voices”. And they have every right to be called nocturnes because here, too, the nature of the music is “nightly”, but it is inspired not by the silence of a sleeping nature, but by the fantasy of unusual night visions. Nocturnes of this kind are very rare. Most of the nocturnes attract with their soft lyrical warehouse. Their music seems to be born of the silence of the night. Most often, it reveals the feelings of a person left alone with himself, asleep nature.
This approach was more actively manifested in the works of Paul Hindemith (Suite "1922"), Bela Bartok ("Night Music") and a number of other composers.
It is known that there is a genre of nocturne in the works of other authors. Basically, these are 1-2 separate works, not included in any cycle, mainly piano works. Among them:
Karol Bernard Załuski. Nocturnes in A minor, E-flat major for piano
Gabriel Faure. Three Nocturnes, Op.33 for Piano
F. Amirov. Nocturne in B minor for domra
A.P. Borodin - nocturne from the second quartet
A.N. Scriabin - piano nocturnes, including a nocturne for the left hand
D. Shostakovich - Nocturne from the music to the film "The Gadfly"
Music by Franz Liszt - "Dreams of Love" (Nocturne N3 S 541).
Conclusion
In the first chapter, we examined the terminology of the nocturne genre that existed in different time periods; marked the historical stages of the development of this genre.
Nocturne (from lat. Nocturnus - night) - a designation applied to musical works of various composition, form and character. In the 18th - early 19th centuries, the term notturno was used to refer to a kind of divertissement, a multi-part work performed outdoors at night by an ensemble of wind or wind and string instruments (by J. Haydn, W. Mozart). There were also one-part nocturnes for one or more voices, usually without accompaniment, close to a vocal serenade (by W. Mozart, D. Verdi, D. Rossini). The notation nocturne was also applied to operatic "night" scenes. John Field established this genre with his nocturnes as a small one-movement melodious lyric piece for pianoforte, usually in a reprise 3-hour form. F. Chopin deepened and enriched this genre. R. Schumann in the nocturne accentuated bizarre-fantastic features. C. Debussy called the triad of orchestral pieces nocturne.
They also gave a brief description of the nocturnes in the work of the following composers: J. Field, F. Chopin, C. Debussy, F. Mendelssohn, M. Glinka.
nocturne genre domra composer
