Imaginary

Visual Arts

• Salvador Dali, White Calm (1936)
• Salvador Dali, Boat (1918)
• Isaac Levitan, Twilight Moon (1899)
• Alphonse Mucha, Evening Reverie (nocturnal slumber) (1898)
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Boating at Argenteuil (1873)
• Ivan Aivazovsky, Moonlit Night (1849)

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Frédéric Chopin’s twenty-one nocturnes for solo piano capture the spirit of reverie (performances by Rubinstein, Engerer and Chaplin).

• Op. 9, No. 1 in B-Flat Minor - Larghetto (1833): like Bach’s opening pieces for his Solo Cello Suites and his Well-Tempered Klavier, Chopin most purely captured the overarching musical idea in his first nocturne.
• Op. 9, No. 2 in E-Flat Major - Andante (1833): feelings of comfort and assurance underlie the predominant tone.
• Op. 9, No. 3 in B Major - Allegretto (1833): playfulness alternates with reverie.
• Op. 15, No. 1 in F Major – Andante Cantabile (1834): the mood begins calmly with overtones of reverence and is interrupted occasionally by what for these pieces could be characterized as tumult.
• Op. 15, No. 2 in F-Sharp Major - Larghetto (1834): curiosity and a muted sense of adventure are the occasional interlopers here.
• Op. 15, No. 3 in G Minor - Lento (1834): hints of skepticism color the dream-like dominant tone.
• Op. 27, No. 1 in F Minor - Larghetto (1836): this nocturne highlights the mysterious quality of dreams, then gradually and in fits and starts the vision becomes clearer.
• Op. 27, No. 2 in D-Flat Major – Lento sostenuto (1836): the emphasis here is on nostalgic reflection.
• Op. 32, No. 1 in B Major – Andantino sostenuto (1837): this nocturne expresses fond thoughts of a dear friend.
• Op. 32, No. 2 in A-Flat Major - Lento (1837): the tone is one of serenity and rest.
• Op. 37, No. 1 in G Minor – Andante sostenuto (1840): the dominant theme-of-the-soul is contemplative, introspective reflection.
• Op. 37, No. 2 in G Major - Andantino (1840): with its simple, repetitive affirmations, this nocturne emphasizes reverie’s restorative and healing qualities.
• Op. 48, No. 1 in C Minor - Lento (1842): this nocturne’s tone of uncertainty interrupts the dominant mood.
• Op. 48, No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor - Andantino (1842): the contemplative mood suggests a re-evaluation.
• Op. 55, No. 1 in F Minor - Andante (1844): this nocturne offers a straightforward expression of the main spiritual theme.
• Op. 55, No. 2 in E-Flat Major - Lento (1844): suggesting a reassuring look within.
• Op. 62, No. 1 in B Major - Andante (1846): this nocturne’s self-consciousness renders it somewhat out of place until motifs of reassurance restore the main idea.
• Op. 62, No. 2 in E Major – Lento (1846): reassurance re-affirmed, with increasing emphasis.Op. 72, No. 1 in E Minor - Andante (1855): Chopin’s returns in his final nocturne to mystery, with an unsettled quality suggesting the macabre, as though he had second thoughts about the main idea of the nocturne. The piece was published six years after his death. Perhaps Chopin was not ready to say goodbye.
• Op. posthumous in C-Sharp Minor – Lento con gran espressione (1830): this nocturne displays a brooding quality.
• Op. posthumous in C Minor (1848): the brooding quality in Chopin’s earlier unpublished nocturne is ominous here, as though Chopin sank into despair as he approached the end of his too-brief life.

Gabriel Fauré composed thirteen nocturnes over a span of thirty-six years. These works are prime examples of French impressionism, with its inherently dream-like quality. Here are performances by Hubeau, Crochet and Collard.

• Op. 33, No. 1, in E-Flat Minor (c. 1875)
• Op. 33, No. 2, in B Major (c. 1880)
• Op. 33, No. 3, in A-Flat Major (c. 1882)
• Op. 36, in E-Flat Major (1884)
• Op. 37, in B-Flat Major (1884)
• Op. 63, in D-Flat Major (1894)
• Op. 74, in C-Sharp Minor (1898)
• Op. 84, No. 8, in D-Flat Major (1902)
• Op. 97, in B Minor (1908)
• Op. 99, in E Minor (1908)
• Op. 104, in F-Sharp Minor (1913)
• Op. 107, in E Minor (1915)
• Op. 119, in B Minor (1921)

As most commonly interpreted today and for many years, Beethoven's iconic Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (Sonata quasi una fantasia) (“Moonlight”) evokes a romantic moonlit evening. The too-slow tempo in most modern interpretations (performances by Arrau, Freire, Rubinstein and Backhaus) was not what Beethoven intended. Each phrase was supposed to be connected to the next, as though the phrases were building a bridge, with the main chord in each phrase bringing the bridge together. A performance by Glenn Gould retained much of romantic quality without sacrificing Beethoven’s intent.

Other compositions:

• Foote, Nocturne and Scherzo for Flute and String Quartet (1918)
• Flagello, Nocturne for Violin and Piano

Albums:

• Kevin Kern, “Summer Daydreams”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Rachmaninoff, 14 Romances, “Vocalise”, Op. 34, No. 14 (performances by Dessay, Shafran and Chang)

Fictional Narratives

Novels:

• Patrick Modiano, Sleep of Memory: A Novel (Yale University Press, 2018): “The Nobel laureate’s dreamlike novels summon elusive, half-forgotten episodes. Here, that means Paris in the ’60s, love affairs, a flirtation with the occult and a shocking crime.”