Nocturne no. 4 op. 150

Godard’s Fourth Nocturne (1893) – his final excursion into the genre – is the most unusual from the harmonic point of view, brimful of chords of the seventh and the augmented fourth. It is also the most difficult, bristling with rapid semiquavers and octave runs. The accent is placed on elaborate musical development rather than a pragmatic style intended for a wide public: unlike most of the composer’s piano music, this nocturne is addressed to experienced virtuosos inured to the ‘Romantic’ difficulties of the late nineteenth century.