The piano nocturne genre was effectively created by Irish composer John Field, with his first three nocturnes appearing in 1814.
Cultural Impact
A 1845 survey in Paris suggested that one out of five women in the city had some keyboard facility, indicating the piano's importance in domestic life and social harmony.
Historical Context
In 1839, Carl Czerny, an Austrian composer and piano teacher, classified the piano nocturne as an imitation of vocal serenades, meant to be performed at night.
Cultural Impact
Nineteenth-century listeners often associated the piano nocturne with feminine imagery, perceiving it as a 'love poem sung by a man to a woman' or 'a mirror of the feminine spirit'.
Historical Context
The nocturne was considered a 'feminine' genre partly because composers primarily wrote them for women, who were often moderately accomplished amateur pianists.
Critical Reception
Early biographers and critics, like Frederick Niecks and James Huneker, often dismissed Chopin's nocturnes as 'dulcet, effeminate compositions' or 'desperately sentimental'.
Compositional Technique
John Field's nocturnes transferred the vocal cantilena, including coloratura flourishes from Italian opera, to the keyboard, using the sustaining pedal to expand harmonic patterns.
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