Adagio / Stephen Shortridge / Oil on canvas * John Field * Nocturne No. 10 in E Minor / Mícéal O'Rourke Nocturne No. 12 in G Major / John O'Conor Nocturne No. 5 in Bb Major / Benjamin Frith John Field (26 July 1782 -- 23 January 1837) To the Irish pianist and composer John Field has been credited the invention of the Nocturne, a form later adopted and developed by Chopin.
Field was born in Dublin in 1782, the son of a violinist, but moved with his family to London in 1793, perhaps taking violin lessons from Haydn’s friend Salomon. He became an apprentice of Muzio Clementi, appearing in a series of important London concerts, and later touring widely. After concerts in Russia, he remained in St. Petersburg, where he became a fashionable teacher and performer, moving to Moscow in 1821. Illness brought him, in 1831, to London again, a visit followed by a continental tour and a final return to Moscow, where he died in 1837. Although Field wrote seven piano concertos and a series of chamber compositions for piano and strings, his chief claim on posterity lies in his eighteen Nocturnes. John Field's compositions influenced many major composers of his time, including Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt. The number 10 appears in an early Peters edition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nocturne No. 10 in E Minor: Adagio / Míċeál O'Rourke Mícéal O'Rourke live in Hong Kong Encore John Field Nocturne in E minor Míċeál O'Rourke is an Irish pianist who is best known for his recordings of works by John Field. Born and raised in Dublin, O'Rourke obtained a degree in music from University College, Dublin. Shortly after graduation, he moved to Paris where he has lived ever since. On December 12, 1976 he gave his first public recital in France, playing an all-Chopin programme. He studied piano under Marcel Ciampi, a pupil of Debussy. O'Rourke has increased the availability of John Field's works considerably through his recordings of all the piano concerti, sonatas, and nocturnes. In 1994, O'Rourke was awarded the Chopin Medal by the Fryderyk Chopin Society of Warsaw in recognition of his "outstanding Chopin playing". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nocturne No. 12 in G Major: Lento / John O'Conor "Nocturne No.12 in G major" by John O'Conor
John O'Conor (born 18 January 1947) is an Irish pianist and pedagogue, and former director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Born in Dublin, O'Conor attended Belvedere College in that city. During his early Dublin studies, his main piano teacher was J. J. O'Reilly. Later he was awarded an Austrian Government scholarship that enabled him to study in Vienna with the renowned pedagogue Dieter Weber. He also made a special study of Beethoven with the legendary German pianist Wilhelm Kempff. In 1973 O'Conor was unanimously awarded First Prize at the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna which launched his international career, and in 1975 he won First Prize at the Bösendorfer Competition. He has performed in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and has appeared with such orchestras as the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, l'Orchestre National de France, the Scottish and Stuttgart Chamber Orchestras, the Israel Camerata, the NHK, Yomiuri, Kyushu, Kyoto and Sapporo Symphonies in Japan, the KBS Symphony in South Korea, An avid proponent of his fellow countryman John Field, he has recorded most of the composer's major works including the complete Concertos, Sonatas and Nocturnes. His recording of Field's Nocturnes was featured on Billboard Magazine's classical charts for many weeks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nocturne No. 5 in Bb Major: Andantino / Benjamin Frith https://youtu.be/KK-G1yFyS24 "Nocturne No. 5 in Bb Major" by Benjamin Frith Benjamin Frith (born 1957 in South Yorkshire) is a British classical pianist. He was educated at the University of Leeds and graduated with a BA in Music in 1979. Subsequently, he studied under Fanny Waterman and won several awards early in his career, including the Gold Medal at the 1989 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Israel. He also won the Dudley Piano Competition aged only 14.
He has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras including the Berlin Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Polish National Radio, and the BBC Philharmonic. He has worked with many leading conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Antoni Wit, Vasary, Skrowaczewski, Bamert, Atzman and Barry Wordsworth. His repertoire ranges from Bach to Tippett and includes over 50 concertos. He has recorded all the John Field Piano Concertos and during 2002 numbers 5 & 6 reached the top of the Classical charts and since then has recorded all Field’s Nocturnes for solo piano. _____________________________________________________ John Field ‒ 18 Nocturnes John Field (1782 - 1837), 18 Nocturnes (1812 - 1836) 11/03/2017 Water lily |
