John Field was an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, and teacher. He was born in Dublin into a musical family, and received his early education there. The Fields soon moved to London, where Field studied under Muzio Clementi

Muzio Clementi

Muzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...

. Under his tutelage, Field quickly became a famous and sought-after concert pianist; together, master and pupil visited Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, and St. Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

. The Russian capital impressed Field so much that he eventually decided to stay behind when Clementi left, and from about 1804 was particularly active in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

Field was very highly regarded by his contemporaries and his playing and compositions influenced many major composers, including Chopin, Brahms, Schumann

Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....

, and Liszt

Liszt

Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

. He is best known today for originating the piano nocturne

Nocturne

A nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night...

, a form later made famous by Chopin, as well as for his substantial contribution, through concerts and teaching, to the development of the Russian piano school.

Biography

1782–1801: Early life

Field was born in Golden Lane, Dublin in 1782, the eldest son of Irish parents who were members of the Church of Ireland

Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

. His father, Robert Field, earned his living by playing the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 in Dublin theatres. Field first studied the piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 under his grandfather (also named John Field), who was a professional organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

, and later under Tommaso Giordani

Tommaso Giordani

Tommaso Giordani was an Italian composer.Giordani was born in Naples and came from a musical family. His father was Carmine Giordani , who was born around 1695 in Naples, died after 1762, probably in London. A younger brother was Giuseppe Giordani , called "Giordanello"...

. He made his debut at the age of nine, a performance that was well-received, on 24 March 1792 in Dublin. According to an early biographer, W.H. Grattan Flood, Field started composing in Ireland, but no evidence exists to support his claim. Flood also asserted that Field's family moved to Bath, Somerset in 1793 and lived there for a short time, and this too is considered unlikely by modern researchers. By late 1793, though, the Fields had settled in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where the young pianist started studying with Muzio Clementi

Muzio Clementi

Muzio Clementi was a celebrated composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer. Born in Italy, he spent most of his life in England. He is best known for his piano sonatas, and his collection of piano studies, Gradus ad Parnassum...

. This arrangement was made possible by Field's father, who was perhaps able to secure the apprenticeship through Giordani, who knew Clementi.

Field continued giving public performances and soon became famous in London, attracting favourable comments from the press and the local musicians. Around 1795 his performance of a Dussek

Jan Ladislav Dussek

Jan Ladislav Dussek was a Czech composer and pianist. He was an important representative of Czech music abroad in the second half of 18th century and the beginning of 19th century...

 piano concerto was praised by Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

. Field continued his studies with Clementi, also helping the Italian with the making and selling of instruments. He also took up violin playing, which he studied under J.P. Solomon. His first published compositions were issued by Clementi in 1795; the first historically important work, Piano Concerto No. 1 H 27, was premiered by the composer in London on 7 February 1799. Field's first official opus

Opus number

An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...

 was a set of three piano sonata

Piano sonata

A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...

s published by (and dedicated to) Clementi in 1801.

1802–1829: Settling in Russia

In summer 1802 Field and Clementi left London and went to Paris on business. They soon travelled to Vienna, where Field took a brief course in counterpoint

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

 under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger was an Austrian musician who was born at Klosterneuburg, near Vienna.He originally studied music at Melk Abbey and philosophy at a Benedictine seminary in Vienna and became one of the most learned and skillful contrapuntists of his age...

, and in early winter arrived in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

. Field was inclined to stay, impressed by the artistic life of the city. Clementi left in June 1803, but not before securing Field a teaching post in Narva

Narva

Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...

 and "appointing" the young man as his deputy, so that Field would receive similarly high fees. After Clementi's departure, Field had a busy concert season, eventually performing at the newly founded Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Society

Saint Petersburg Philharmonia

Saint Petersburg Philharmonia is a music society located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is the name of the building where it is housed. The Bolshoi Zal of this building is one of the best known music halls in Russia. Also there is another one building of Saint Petersburg Philarmonic Society:...

. In 1805 Field embarked on a concert tour of the Baltic states, staying in Saint Petersburg during the summer. The following year he gave his first concert in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. Clementi arranged the publication of some of Field's old works in Russia in late 1806; he evidently sold Field a piano in exchange for music. Field returned to Moscow in April 1807 and apparently did not revisit Saint Petersburg until 1811 (but he kept his apartment at Vasilievsky Island

Vasilievsky Island

Vasilyevsky Island is an island in Saint Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the rivers Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva in the south and northeast, and by the Gulf of Finland in the west. Vasilyevsky Island is separated from Dekabristov Island by the Smolenka River...

). In 1810 he married Adelaide Percheron, a French pianist and former pupil.

Up to 1808 almost all publications of Field's music were reissues of old works. In 1808–9 he finally began publishing newly composed music, starting with piano variations on Russian folksongs: Air russe varié for piano 4 hands, H 10, and Kamarinskaya for piano, H 22. In 1811 the composer returned to Saint Petersburg. He spent the next decade of his life here, more productive than ever before, publishing numerous new pieces and producing corrected editions of old ones. He was successful in establishing a fruitful collaboration with both H.J. Dalmas, the most prominent Russian publisher of the time, and Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...

, one of the most important music publishing houses of Europe. In 1815 Field fathered an illegitimate son, Leon Charpentier (later Leon Leonov), but remained with his wife. They had a son, Adrien, in 1819; Leon would later become a famous tenor, active in Russia, while Adrien followed his father's steps and became a pianist. By 1819 Field was sufficiently wealthy to be able to refuse the position of court pianist that was offered to him. His lifestyle and social behaviour were becoming more and more extravagant.

In 1818 Field revisited Moscow on business, prompted by his collaboration with the publisher Wenzel. He and his wife gave a series of concerts in the city in 1821, the last of which marked their last appearance in public together. Adelaide left Field soon afterward (taking Adrien with her) and attempted a solo career, which was not particularly successful. Field stayed in Moscow and continued performing and publishing his music. In 1822 he met Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...

; the two collaborated on a performance of Hummel's Sonata for Piano 4-Hands, op. 92.

1830–1837: Last years and death

Partly as a result of his extravagant lifestyle, Field's health began deteriorating by mid-1820s. From about 1823 his concert appearances started decreasing; by the late 1820's he was suffering from rectal cancer. Field left for London to seek medical attention. He arrived in September 1831 and, after an operation, gave concerts there and in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. He stayed in England for some time, meeting distinguished figures such as Mendelssohn and Moscheles. In March 1832 his former teacher and friend Clementi died, and Field acted as pallbearer

Pallbearer

A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....

 at his funeral. On Christmas Day 1832 Field was in Paris, performing his seventh piano concerto, which received a mixed reaction, just as his recent concerts in England. After a series of concerts in various European cities, Field spent nine months (1834–5) in a Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 hospital. His Russian patrons rescued him. He briefly stayed with Carl Czerny

Carl Czerny

Carl Czerny was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. He is best remembered today for his books of études for the piano. Czerny's music was profoundly influenced by his teachers, Muzio Clementi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Antonio Salieri and Ludwig van Beethoven.-Early life:Carl Czerny was born...

 in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, where he gave three recitals, and then returned to Moscow with his son Adrien. He gave his last concert in March 1836 and died in Moscow almost a year later, on 23 January 1837, from pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

. He was buried in the Vvedenskoye Cemetery. According to an eyewitness report, when asked what his religion was, Field replied with a characteristic pun: "I am not a Calvinist, but a Claveciniste."
Note: Claveciniste is the French for Harpsicordist

Music

None have quite attained to these vague eolian harmonies, these half-formed sighs floating through the air, softly lamenting and dissolved in delicious melancholy. Nobody has even attempted this peculiar style, and especially none of those who heard Field play himself, or rather who heard him dream his music in moments when he entirely abandoned himself to his inspiration.

— Franz Liszt Franz Liszt Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age... 's preface to his edition of Field's nocturnes, 1859. (English translation by Julius Schuberth, 1859)

Field became best known for his post-London style, probably developed in Moscow around 1807. The characteristic texture is that of a chromatically decorated melody over sonorous left hand parts supported by sensitive pedalling. Field also had an affinity for ostinato

Ostinato

In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...

 patterns and pedal points, rather unusual for the prevailing styles of the day. Entirely representative of these traits are Field's eighteen nocturnes and associated pieces such as Andante inedit, H 64. These works were some of the most influential music of the early Romantic period: they do not adhere to a strict formal scheme (such as the sonata form

Sonata form

Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...

), and they create a mood without text or programme

Program music

Program music or programme music is a type of art music that attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music...

. These pieces were admired by Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

, who subsequently made the piano nocturne famous, and Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

, who published an edition of the nocturnes based on rare Russian sources that incorporated late revisions by Field. Liszt's preface to the said edition was an extensive eulogy for Field and his nocturnes.

Similarly influential were Field's early piano concertos, which occupy a central place in the development of the genre in the 19th century. Already the earliest of these works show competent and imaginative orchestration, and bold, original piano writing. Composers such as Hummel, Kalkbrenner and Moscheles were influenced by these works, which are particularly notable for their central movements, frequently nocturne-like. Some of the less known works were also historically important: particularly the piano fantasies, in which Field pioneered the Romantic large scale episodic structure.

List of works

This list is arranged according to Hopkinson numbers, introduced in the 1961 catalogue by Cecil Hopkinson. Many of these works were arranged for other instruments and/or revised by the composer himself; such arrangements and revised versions are not listed.

• H 1 – Variations for piano on "Fal Lal La" in A major
• H 2 – Rondo "Favorite Hornpipe" for piano in A major
• H 3 – Rondo "Go the devil" for piano in C major
• H 4 – Variations for piano on "Since then I'm doom'd" in C major
• H 5 – Rondo "Slave, bear the sparkling goblet" for piano (lost)
• H 6 – Rondo "The two slaves dances" for piano in G major
• H 7 – Variations for piano on "Logie of Buchan" in C major
• H 8 – Piano Sonata Op. 1 No. 1 in E flat major
• H 8 – Piano Sonata Op. 1 No. 2 in A major
• H 8 – Piano Sonata Op. 1 No. 3 in C minor
• H 9 – Pleyel's Concertante for piano, violin & cello in F major
• H 10 – Air russe varié for piano 4 hands in A minor
• H 11 – Andante for piano 4 hands in C minor
• H 12 – Danse des ours for piano 4 hands in E flat major
• H 13 – Divertissement No. 1 for piano in E major
• H 13 – Nocturne for piano (12) in E major
• H 14 – Divertissement No. 2 for piano in A major
• H 14 – Nocturne for piano (7) in A major
• H 15 – Fantasia for piano Op. 3 on "Guardami un poco" in A major
• H 16 – Marche triomphale for piano in E flat major
• H 17 – Piano Sonata in B flat major
• H 18 – Rondeau for piano in A flat major
• H 18 – Waltz for piano in A flat major
• H 19 – Grande valse for piano 4 hands in A major
• H 20 – Variations for piano on "Vive Henry IV" in A minor
• H 21 – Polonaise for piano in E flat major
• H 22 – Variations for piano on "Kamarinskaya" in B flat major
• H 23 – Rondo "Speed the Plough" for piano in B major
• H 24 – Nocturne for piano No. 1 in E flat major
• H 25 – Nocturne for piano No. 2 in C minor
• H 26 – Nocturne for piano No. 3 in A flat major
• H 27 – Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major (1799)
• H 27 – Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major
• H 27 – Variations for piano on "Within a mile" in B flat major
• H 28 – Piano Concerto No. 4 in E flat major (1814, revised 1819)
• H 28 – Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 4 in E flat major
• H 29 – Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat major
• H 30 – Nocturne for piano No. 9 (8) in E flat major
• H 31 – Piano Concerto No. 2 in A flat major
  Piano Concerto No. 2 in A flat (John Field)
  John Field's Piano Concerto in A-flat major was published first in Leipzig in 1816.Field wrote the piece in classical sonata form; however, he didn't include a cadenza at the end of the first movement due to its relative length, and made the second movement quite short...
  
  (1811)
• H 31 – Poco adagio from Piano Concerto No. 2 in E flat major
• H 31 – Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 2 in A flat major
• H 32 – Piano Concerto No. 3 in E flat major (1811)
• H 33 – Exercice modulé sur tous les tons majeurs et mineurs for piano
• H 34 – Piano Quintet in A flat major
• H 35 – Fantasia for piano on "Ah! quel dommage" in G major
• H 36 – Nocturne for piano No. 4 in A major
• H 37 – Nocturne for piano No. 5 in B flat major
• H 38 – Rondo for piano in A major
• H 39 – Piano Concerto No. 5 in C major "L'incendie par l'orage" (1817)
• H 39 – Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 5 in C major
• H 40 – Nocturne for piano No. 6 in F major
• H 41 – Variations for piano on a Russian folksong in D minor
• H 42 – 6 Dances for piano
• H 43 – Rondo for piano 4 hands in G major
• H 44 – Exercice nouveau No. 1 for piano in C major
• H 45 – Nocturne for piano No. 7 (13) in C major
• H 46 – Nocturne for piano No. 8 (9) in E minor
• H 47 – The Maid of Valdarno (lost)
• H 48 – Exercice nouveau No. 2 for piano in C major
• H 49 – Piano Concerto No. 6 in C major (1819, revised 1820)
• H 49 – Rondo from Piano Concerto No. 6 in C major
• H 50 – 2 Songs
• H 51 – Sehnsuchts-Walzer for piano in E major
• H 52 – Rondoletto for piano in E flat major
• H 53 – Rondo "Come again, come again" for piano in E major
• H 54 – Nocturne for piano No. 10 in E major
• H 55 – Nocturne for piano in C major "Le troubadour"
• H 56 – Nocturne for piano No. 11 in E flat major
• H 57 – Fantasia for piano on "We met" in G major
• H 58 – Nocturne for piano No. 12 (14) in G major
• H 58 – Piano Concerto No. 7 in C minor (1822, revised 1822-32)
• H 59 – Nocturne for piano No. 13 (15) in D minor
• H 60 – Nocturne for piano No. 14 (16) in C major
• H 61 – Nocturne for piano No. 15 (17) in C major
• H 62 – Nocturne for piano No. 16 (18) in F major
• H 63 – Nocturne for piano in B flat major
• H 64 – Andante inedit for piano in E flat major
• H 65 – Pastorale for piano (lost)
• H 66 – Nocturne for piano "Dernière pensée" (lost)
• H 67 – 88 passages doigtés for piano (lost)
• H deest – Exercice for piano in A flat major
• H deest – Fantasia for piano on "Dans le jardin" in A minor
• H deest – Largo for piano in C minor
• H deest – Prelude for piano in C minor

Biography

Biography including index of works

• John Fields influence on Frédéric Chopin
• John Field of Dublin, 1920 biography by W.H. Grattan Flood (from Open Library)

Scores