John Field (composer)

John Field (July 26, 1782 – January 23, 1837) was an Irish composer and pianist. He is best known for being the first composer to write nocturnes.

Music

Field is best remembered as the first composer to write nocturnes, single movement pieces for piano which were not in a fixed form (as the minuet or fugue are) and which maintained a single mood throughout. These pieces greatly influenced Frederic Chopin, who went on to write 21 nocturnes himself. Inasmuch as Field's nocturnes were the first single-movement piano character pieces, they can be seen as important forerunners of many other Romantic composers' works, among them Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and Edvard Grieg.

Related Topics:
Nocturne - Piano - Minuet - Fugue - Frederic Chopin - Romantic - Felix Mendelssohn - Robert Schumann - Franz Liszt - Edvard Grieg

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