Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2: the chords, bar by bar

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 is in E♭ major, and its first four bars are E♭, D°⁷, E♭ | C⁷, E°⁷, Fm | B♭⁷, G⁷, Cm, A°⁷ | B♭⁷, E♭: I, vii°⁷, I, then the dominant of F minor, then a run of dominants back to I. The piece is 34 bars, the theme comes four times over nearly the same chords, and the cadenza before the end sits on one chord, B♭⁷. Every chord and numeral below is the left hand of our study edition, bar by bar.

How to read the table

Chords are lead-sheet symbols, as printed above the staff in the edition: B♭7 is a dominant seventh on B♭, D°7 a diminished seventh, A♭m a minor triad, B♭7sus a dominant seventh with no third. Numerals count from E♭ major: uppercase is major, lowercase minor, ° diminished, ⁷ a seventh, and the slash means “of”, so V⁷/ii is the dominant of ii, F minor. Chords are listed in the order they sound; most last one beat of the 12/8 bar, and the PDF shows each one’s length.

A (1–4): the theme

Bar 1 is I, vii°⁷, I; Chopin’s bass then steps down through D to bar 2’s C, while this edition keeps E♭ until then. Bar 2 heads for F minor through its own dominant, C⁷, bar 3 runs through the dominants of C minor and of B♭, and bar 4 closes V⁷ to I.

A′ (5–8): theme again, ornamented

The same four bars chord for chord, with the melody ornamented and Chopin’s bass an octave higher in bar 5.

B (9–12): from V back to I, then a chromatic slide home

Bars 9–10: V/V goes to IV, not to B♭, as Chopin’s bass steps down from A to A♭, and A♭ major turns to A♭ minor. Bar 11: E°⁷ slides into C⁷ instead of F minor, and F⁷ slips to G minor. Bar 12 ends with one chord per eighth, B♭, B⁷, E, C⁷ by half step in Chopin’s bass, then F⁷ and B♭⁷ by fifths, into I at bar 13.

A″ (13–16): theme, third time

Bar 13 puts B♭⁷ on beat 2 where bars 1 and 5 have D°⁷, over the same E♭ in Chopin’s bass. Bars 14–16 repeat bars 2–4.

B′ (17–20): B again, same chords

Bars 9–12 again, chord for chord, so the slide home in bar 20 is bar 12’s.

A‴ (21–24): theme, last time

The theme for the last time, with bar 13’s B♭⁷ on beat 2 and bars 2–4 once more.

C (25–28): A♭ minor and E♭

A♭ minor and E♭ take turns. Chopin’s bass keeps E♭ under the iv of bar 25 and the V⁷ of bar 27; this edition prints A♭ under every iv and B♭ under V⁷. Bar 28 closes the phrase: V⁷(sus), V⁷, I.

C′ (29–31): iv and I again, turning aside

Bars 29–30 repeat 25–26 with Chopin’s bass on A♭ under iv. Bar 31 starts like bar 28 and then turns: the D never arrives, Chopin’s bass rises to B natural, and G⁷, C minor and F⁷ follow instead of a close.

Coda (32–34): why the cadenza sits on B♭⁷

The cadenza is the V⁷ of the final cadence. Bar 31’s F⁷ leads to B♭⁷, which fills bar 32; Chopin’s left hand spells it in one arpeggio and stops, so the block chord is released at the fermata and the staff is empty under the run, as in Chopin. The run itself circles B♭, the root of the chord. At bar 33 B♭⁷ resolves to I, E♭, held through bar 34: V⁷ then I, one cadence stretched over three bars.

Play it from the chords

The table is the harmony. The study edition of Op. 9 No. 2 is the playable version: Chopin’s right hand as he wrote it, one root-position chord under it per harmony, the symbols above the staff and the numerals below, boxed section letters, and the analysis page these notes come from. Four pages, $9. Learn the melody over these chords first, then Chopin’s own left hand, bass note then two chords with leaps of a tenth and more, over a progression the hands already know.