Frederic Chopin (1810 - 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period. He is widely regarded as the greatest Polish composer, and ranks as one of music's greatest tone poets. This popular nocturne is in rondo form, although the first episode repeats in a more ornamented manner before the commencement of the second, with every further repeat employing the ornamentation. Thus the form can be written A A' B A' B A' C. Unusually for a rondo, the tempo is andante, giving a tender, floating melody. The last episode takes the somewhat unorthodox senza tempo (without time) in the penultimate bar.
