But the Nocturne in G, op.
37, No. 2, is charming. Painted with Chopin's most ethereal
brush, without the cloying splendors of the one in D flat, the
double sixths, fourths and thirds are magically euphonious. The
second subject, I agree with Karasowski, is the most beautiful
melody Chopin ever wrote. It is in true barcarolle vein; and most
subtle are the shifting harmonic hues. Pianists usually take the
first part too fast, the second too slowly, transforming this
poetic composition into an etude. As Schumann wrote of this opus:
"The two nocturnes differ from his earlier ones chiefly through
greater simplicity of decoration and more quiet grace. We know
Chopin's fondness in general for spangles, gold trinkets and
pearls. He has already changed and grown older; decoration he
still loves, but it is of a more judicious kind, behind which the
nobility of the poetry shimmers through with all the more
loveliness: indeed, taste, the finest, must be granted him."
Both numbers of this opus are without dedication. They are the
offspring of the trip to Majorca.
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