What makes a piece a nocturne?

Question

I am wanting to compose a second nocturne. I composed my first one about a year ago and pretty much all the feedback I got was that it should have been written in 3/4 instead of 4/4. I wonder if that is because the bass in my previous nocturne was all triplets until the last few bars. I know one thing that is critical to call a piece a nocturne is that it is evocative of the night. I only know of Chopin's nocturnes. And I know that Chopin uses a simple bass line, quite often uses triplets, and focuses on the melody in most of his works, not just his nocturnes. So whenever I write a nocturne or think of writing one, Chopin is the composer who comes to mind. I often listen to Chopin's nocturnes before I write one of my own. His nocturnes were my first Chopin pieces to be in my repertoire. But is there anything besides being evocative of the night that I need in order to call my piece a nocturne? I mean, it sounds very freeform, like it could be in any form, even sonata form, and still be considered a nocturne(though a nocturne in sonata form, I think would be very hard to achieve). But is it very freeform like that or are there other things critical besides the feel of the piece for it to be considered a nocturne?

Answer 1

Hi Kory - You're right, the only requirement for a nocturne is that it is suggestive of night. I suggest that you take "nocturne" as an opportunity to free up your thinking about this. Let go of technical thoughts to begin with and simply allow your imagination to explore your personal feelings/reactions to nighttime. Then think about what musical materials (harmonies, melodies, tempos etc...) will express your take on night and then start to compose with these materials. Don't be burdened with what other composers have done - let this be yours and contribute something that is an original nocturne. Feel free to contact me with questions if you have them.

Stephen