Field, John 07/26/1782 - 01/23/1837

John Field (1782-1837), Irish pianist and composer, studied piano with Muzio Clementi in London, where his father had taken a post as a violinist. In 1802 he accompanied Clementi to St. Petersburg and settled there. After a failed marriage with a student he went to Moscow in 1821 and lived there as a respected pianist and pedagogue until his death His students included Mikhail Glinka. Despite failing health he undertook concert tours in other European countries between 1831 and 1835.


His piano compositions are imaginatively constructed as to melody, harmony, and rhythm, and introduce numerous innovative romantic pianistic effects. The nocturne is one of his creations; it was taken up and developed by successive composers like Chopin and Liszt.