A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Nocturne

NOCTURNE, NOTTURNO. A name and form of composition the origin of which is due to John Field, whose 18 or 19 so-called Nocturnes (although not more than about 12 of them deserve the title—see Field) are widely and deservedly popular, not only for their intrinsic charm of freshness and simplicity, but also on account of their being the predecessors of Chopin's Nocturnes, which undoubtedly owe their form, though not their characteristic melancholy, to those of Field. It is very interesting to compare some of the Nocturnes of both composers,—for instance, Field's No. 5 in B♭, with Chopin's op. 32, No. 2, both the first and second subjects of each bearing a striking resemblance to those of the other composer. The Italian form of the word, Notturno, is employed by Mozart to denote a piece in three movements for strings in two horns (K. 286). It is also used by Mendelssohn for the title of the lovely entr'acte in the Midsummer Night's Dream Music, which represents the sleep of the lovers. More recently the name has been used to cover a multitude of sins in more than one branch of art.

[ J. A. F. M. ]