An influential early Romantic composer for piano, John Field (1782-1837) redefined the term Nocturne. Formerly used to designate music to be performed at night, nocturnes came to be regarded as music that is nocturnal in mood. Field's dreamy, poetic style contrasted sharply with that of his contemporaries, who favored exhibitions of clarity and velocity, and his works exerted a lasting effect on such later composers as Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann.
This new collection, compiled and edited by piano scholar Joseph Smith, brings together the most popular and often performed of Field's Nocturnes, along with a selection of his most important solo piano works. The March Trimophale en Honneur des Victories du General Wittgenstein commemorates Russia's 1812 victory over France. A native of Ireland, Field spent most of his life and career in Russia, where he pioneered the musical use of Russian folk motifs. In addition to a half-dozen of the composer's other popular nocturnes, this compilation features The Troubadour, a fine but often overlooked work, and the crowd-pleasing rondo Twelve O'Clock.