Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2: opening chords and form
D♭ major77 bars6/8Lento sostenutoLevel 6 of 85-page PDF
Form
A themeB through vi, then falling fifthsA′ theme again, variedC A majorA″ theme, fortissimoB′ return and cadenceCoda D♭ pedal
Bars 1–8 in D♭ major
Sections
A (1–9): the theme
Chopin's bass holds D♭ under I, iiø⁷ and ii⁷, then falls C, B♭, B𝄫, A♭ into V⁷ at bar 8, and bar 9 answers with a common-tone diminished seventh back to I.
B (10–25): through vi, then falling fifths
In bars 10–17 vi and ii each bring their own dominant. From bar 18 V⁷ alternates with iiø⁷ and iv⁷, and bar 22 sends vii°⁷ to C♭⁷ rather than I, then down by fifths through F♭⁷, written E⁷, to A.
A′ (26–33), A″ (46–53), B′ (54–61): the theme back
A′ places iv in bar 29 and a plain I in bar 33. A″ turns the melody's C♭ of bars 49–50 into V⁷/IV at bar 51 and on to V⁷/ii rather than IV, and B′ closes with V(sus), V⁷(sus), V⁷ in bars 60–61.
C (34–45): A major
Bars 34–36 hold I and V⁷ in A major, then C♯ minor brings iiø⁷ at bar 37 and its dominant over a held G♯ through bars 38–40. Bar 41 turns B♯°⁷ into a German sixth, and Chopin's bass climbs by half step from A to E♭ to reach V⁷.
Coda (62–77): D♭ pedal
Chopin's bass holds D♭ through bars 62–75 while diminished sevenths slide down a half step at a time in bars 62–64 and 66–68 into iiø⁷ and V⁷, then I, V⁷, I, V⁷, I across bars 70–74, and I to the end.
Study edition
Partial analysis: opening bars and a short note on each section. The full breakdown of every section is in the study edition of Nocturne in D♭ major.
Where it sits among the other twenty is in the nocturnes ranked by difficulty, the method for learning it from these chords is in how to memorize a Chopin nocturne, harmony first, and the left-hand pattern under it is measured in Chopin’s left-hand patterns, ranked by stretch.