Nocturne Op. 32 No. 1: opening chords and form

B major65 bars4/4Andante sostenutoLevel 4 of 85-page PDF

The team at Chopin Left HandUpdated September 2026

Form

A1–12

A′13–19

B20–30

C31–36

T37–40

B′41–51

C′52–57

T′58–61

Coda62–65

A themeA′ theme again, variedB on the dominantC G♯ minor over a D♯ pedalT chain of dominants back to BB′ on the dominant againC′ G♯ minor pedal againT′ dominants againCoda B minor

Bars 1–4 in B major

bar 1BIF♯7V⁷

bar 2BIF♯V

bar 3BIF♯7V⁷

bar 4BIF♯V

Sections

A (1–12): the theme

Bars 1–4 alternate I and V. Bar 5 moves through B⁷ and A♯⁷ to D♯ minor, and bar 7 ends the phrase on E minor, iv borrowed from B minor, then V⁷.

B (20–30): on the dominant

Bars 21–24 rest on F♯, the dominant, with its own dominant C♯⁷, and from bar 25 the harmony passes through D♯ minor, A♯ minor and G♯ minor, each reached by its own dominant.

C (31–36): a pedal in G♯ minor

Chopin's bass keeps returning to D♯, the dominant of G♯ minor, without a G♯ chord, and bar 35 turns back to B major.

T (37–40): back to B

G♯⁷, C♯⁷, F♯⁷ and B follow, each the dominant of the next, and bars 41–61 repeat bars 20–40.

Coda (62–65): B minor

Bar 62 holds a German sixth, G B D E♯, a unison recitative runs in B minor, and the last chords are E minor and B minor, the same borrowed E minor that ends all four phrases.

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 B 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.