Field: Piano Concertos Nos. 5 And 6

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John Field (1782-1837)Piano Concertos Nos. 5 and 6 John Field was born in Dublin in 1782, the son of a theatreviolinist. He was first taught there by his father and then from the age ofnine by the NeapolitanTommaso Giordani, a prolific composer whose teaching hadsome effect on Field's later attempts at composition. Field himself made hisdebut as a pianist in Dublin on 24th March 1792 at the Rotunda Assembly Roomsin a Lenten concert organized by Giordani. He was advertised with pardonable understatementas eight years old and played in later Spiritual Concerts in the season,including in one programme a concerto by his teacher. In 1793 the Fields moved to Bath, hoping, perhaps, to usetheir connection with the famous castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, who had settledthere, but by the autumn of the same year they had moved again, this time to London.Here Field's father played in the Haymarket Theatre orchestra and managed tofind a hundred guineas to buy his son an apprenticeship with Muzio Clementi. InLondon John Field appeared in 1794, at the age of twelve, as the talentedten-year-old pupil of Clementi. Haydn, in a diary entry of 1795, records hisimpression of "Field a young boy, which plays the pianoforte \Extremelywell and in May that year Field played a concerto in a benefit concert that includeda Haydn "Overture". Clementi himself combined musical and commercialinterests and by the 1790s had established himself as the leading piano teacherin London, investing substantially in piano manufacture and music publishing.Field's apprenticeship brought the advantages of a sound musical training,continued appearances in London concerts and the start of a necessarilyconcomitant career as a composer. In 1799 he played his Piano Concerto No. 1in E flat major at a charity concert given on 2nd February. The concertowas repeated three months or so later in a benefit concert for the fourteen-year-oldGeorge Frederick Pinto. 1801 saw the end of Field's seven-year apprenticeship. In 1802 Clementi set out for Paris, taking Field withhim. From there they travelled on to Vienna, Clementi intent on his businessventures, but obviously having Field's interests at heart. In Vienna lessons incounterpoint were arranged with Albrechtsberger, who had once performed thesame service for Beethoven. Clementi had intended to leave Field to fend forhimself there, himself travelling to Russia to further his commercialinterests. Field begged to be allowed to accompany him and Clementi agreed,with some reluctance, since this would mean a material addition to hisexpenses. In Russia Clementi was able to use Field, as he had donein London, as a demonstrator in his piano sale-rooms, but there were necessaryeconomies, the cause of Field's later resentment. There were later stories ofnear starvation and of inadequate clothing for the Russian winter, but Fieldfound it possible to establish himself, after Clementi's departure in 1803, inMarch 1804 giving the first performance in