The second of the Op. 32 Nocturnes, composed in the key of A flat major, is marked in its outermost, nocturne, sections by a contemplative character, at times verging on the elegiac. The middle section is filled with agitated music in a different tempo, metre and mode (at first in F minor, then in F sharp minor). It appears like a sudden reminder of a past event. One is also surprised at the way in which the middle section passes back to the opening, nocturne, section: the same melody recurs, with only its expressive character altered – from the elegiac, it passes into a state of supreme perturbation: played fortissimo and appassionato.Author: Mieczysław TomaszewskiA series of programmes entitled ‘Fryderyk Chopin's Complete Works’Polish Radio 2