A Baroque concerto is a piece for soloist(s) and orchestra based on the contrast and alternation between the two. In a Classical concerto the soloist and orchestra often play together; at the end the orchestra drops out while the soloist plays a very difficult, showy section called the cadenza.

Baroque music is tuneful and very organized and melodies tend to be highly decorated and elaborate. Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven composed during the Classical Period. Music from the Classical Period is orderly, balanced and clear. Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Schumann composed during the Romantic Period.

The Baroque period was between the years 1600 and 1750. Key features included small orchestras, with often a focus on the harpsichord or string instruments, and often polyphonic textures. The Classical period came after, between the years 1750 and 1820. Here the textures were homophonic- melody and accompaniment.

Baroque music was more ornate, primarily polyphonic with a more complicated texture, which gave it a profoundly unnatural sound, while Classical Era music used its simpler textures to provide a more natural, melodic ambiance.

Köchel (K) numbers are assigned sequentially according to the date of composition. For example, Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute is given the Köchel number 620, and is (approximately) the 620th piece of music Mozart composed. Compositions completed at the same time are listed K69, K69a, and so on.

Etymology. In the classical period, the Latin word opus (“work”, “labour”), plural opera, was used to identify, list, and catalogue a work of art. By the 15th and 16th centuries, the word opus was used by Italian composers to denote a specific musical composition, and by German composers for collections of music.

after the title of a piece of music means “work”. It is followed by a number. When a composer writes their first piece of music it is followed by the term “opus 1”.

Nocturne, (French: “Nocturnal”), in music, a composition inspired by, or evocative of, the night, and cultivated in the 19th century primarily as a character piece for piano. …

The Köchel catalogue (German: Köchel-Verzeichnis) is a chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally created by Ludwig von Köchel, in which the entries are abbreviated K., or KV. …

Op. = “Opus,” (literally “work”) tells us which one in the numbered catalog of his works the piece is.

Posthumous work

If you’re looking for the easiest Chopin Nocturne I’d suggest No. 20 Op. Posthumous. It’s easier than the E-Flat major Nocturne if you were wondering.

Nocturne in C sharp minor is one of Chopin’s more accessible pieces as well – it’s not his easiest, but it’s around an RCM grade 9/ABRSM 7 level (Henle level 5).

9

approximately five minutes

8-13 years.

The Fantaisie-Impromptu is perhaps the only instance where one genius discloses to us—if only by means of a composition of his own—what he actually hears in the work of another genius.”