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Two Nocturnes (Field style)


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Hi, after having studied John Field's 18 Nocturnes, particularly his left hand patterns, I wrote a couple of short,  tonal, and simple pieces However I couldn't help it, and some "more modern" harmonic changes are present. Or some kind of metric modulation. And other devices.

I was interested in this composer as the father of the Nocturne.

 

Edited by Luis Hernández
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Hey there. 😄

The cut in C33 was to abrupt for me, also in 48 the tiny trill (forgot it's name) is not heard. 

Other than that- perfect. 9.5/10

I like the sound in the Gm even better, but I'd really love it if the sustains were longer (I enjoy the airy kind-of uncertain ghastly sound it gives)

I'd love to here more of it, for me it felt too short. 9.5/10 as well.

Well done :)

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I found these pieces perfectly lovely and with the flavour of John Field as far as I remember.

I have no criticism and the performance is superb. 

As an aside, I find Field Nocturnes more comfortable to listen to than Chopin's. Given the era in which he lived the style anticipates what was to happen a century-plus later - what is stylistically so different from Paderewsky's Nocturne Op 16?

Edited by Quinn
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The Nocturne in C is quite distinct melodically even though it takes some unexpected turns.  I think the first 6/8 section especially is quite jarring to the character of the rest of the nocturne.  And the transitions back to 9/8 from each of the 6/8 sections are a little sudden.  Maybe if you had done a rubato ritardando at the end of the 6/8 before starting the 9/8 section it could signal to the listener that something different is coming up?  (looking at the score I see that you do in fact do that - maybe you could exaggerate it a bit more in that case?  It's up to you of course.)  Also, if you say that something is "in C" then I'd expect it to end in C as well but you end on an F# minor 6 chord.

The Nocturne in G sounded more melancholic to me rather than nostalgic as the title suggests.  I don't know if Field does this or if it's more of a Chopin innovation but I felt like you could have taken the opportunity to develop the fioratura (the septuplet you introduce) into a longer and more involved roulade later in the piece.  Or start with a long drawn-out trill which then could develop into a more chromatic/scalar run.

Overall these were very enjoyable!  Good luck in your future compositions!

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The Nocturne in C is very neat, and I particularly love the largo section! I can picture a starry night with the piece. 

The Nostalgic is quite enjoyable to me. Just 2 stylistic comments here: At m.6 I would prefer rubato for the septet, or replacing it with 8-note group (with the first being a rest); at m.14 I might have added passing note from D to A-natural, like D-C-Bb-A natural to make the transition smoother. Similar for m.17.
 

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On 1/10/2021 at 11:04 AM, HoYin Cheung said:

At m.6 I would prefer rubato for the septet, or replacing it with 8-note group (with the first being a rest)

Thanks.

Interesting. Because that's what we would expect in Chopin, surely. But John Field was much more "serious" and we don't often hear lots of variation or "fireworks". 

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