The Nocturno Op.20B was written by the German born,Israeli Composer, Paul Ben Haim(1897-1984)as part of his Second Suite for Piano(1935-6)after immigrating to Israel-then Palestine.The Nocturno was published seperately and  it manifests clearly the change of style the composer underwent when he was looking for a new musical lsnguage to express himself in his new Middle Eastern home..Ben Haim is one of the Forefathers of Israeli Art Music and one of the founder of the Middle Eastern Movement  in Israeli Music.The piece,typical of his style,is based on a mixture of French “Impressionism”(harmonic colours) and melodic attributes such as ornamentations and improvisatory character coming from Arabic Music.It starts with the two hands playing unison  in a kind of Recitativo gesture, accompanied by chords reminding us of plucking instruments.The piece gathers momentum until its claimax and then recedes and quites down towards the end.It’s a very sensuous direct and appealing  piece,a true blending of 

East and West.