Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall

short stories by Ishiguro

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 20, 2026

Quick Summary

Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall is a 2009 short story collection by Kazuo Ishiguro. The collection features five stories that explore themes of music and the night. Ishiguro, a Nobel Prize laureate, is known for his lyrical tales that often delve into regret and subtle optimism. His works, including this collection, uncover the complexities beneath our perceived connections to the world. The stories within Nocturnes are characterized by Ishiguro's distinctive narrative style, which often evokes a sense of introspection and melancholy.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Kazuo Ishiguro
A short-story collection, Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, was published in 2009. Ishiguro also wrote screenplays for British television as well as for the feature films The Saddest Music in the World (2003), The White Countess (2005), and Living (2022). The latter was based on Kurosawa…
Read More
A short-story collection, Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, was published in 2009. Ishiguro also wrote screenplays for British television as well as for the feature films The Saddest Music in the World (2003), The White Countess (2005), and Living (2022). The latter was based on Kurosawa…
Read More