The Symphonies by Alexander Glazunov (Born on August 10, 1865)

Alexander Glazunov, born on 10 August 1865, was Russia’s greatest symphonist in the generation immediately following Tchaikovsky, and he subsequently passed down his legacy to his most famous student, Dmitri Shostakovich.

A prodigious musical talent, Glazunov began his studies with Rimsky-Korsakov at age 15, and his teacher wrote, “His musical development progressed not by the day, but literally by the hour.”

After a short period of study, Glazunov completed his First Symphony at the age of 16. It is said that when Glazunov walked onto the stage to receive the audience’s cheers, the crowd was shocked to see a 17-year-old boy in a school uniform.

In all, Glazunov composed eight symphonies and left a ninth unfinished. A master of his craft, Glazunov blends Russian nationalist spirit with classical structure and brilliant orchestration. To celebrate his birthday, here is a beginner’s guide to his eight symphonies and the unfinished ninth.   

Symphony No. 1: Triumphant Debut

Alexander Glazunov

During a time when composers were indulging in all kinds of experiments, Glazunov continued the symphonic tradition of Tchaikovsky. He composed his first pieces at the age of 11, and Tchaikovsky immediately recognised a remarkable talent.

Nicknamed “Slavonic,” the Symphony No. 1 is a remarkable achievement for a teenager that impressed Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liszt, and Belyayev. It is full of youthful energy and folk influences, including Russian and Polish elements, and radiates bright optimism.

Cast in a traditional four-movement structure with sonata-form outer movements, it also features a lyrical Adagio and a lively Scherzo. Critics were sceptical that such a work could have come from a mere boy, but Balakirev kept assuring the public that the symphony had indeed been written by the young composer.

For Rimsky-Korsakov, “this symphony was the first of a series of original compositions by the highly gifted artist and indefatigable worker, compositions which gradually spread also to Western Europe and came to be the finest adornments of contemporary musical literature.”

Symphony No. 2: A Lisztian Tribute

Alexander Glazunov with Mily Balakirev

Glazunov completed his Symphony No. 2 in 1886, when he was 21 years of age. It is dedicated, like Saint-Saëns’s contemporaneous Third Symphony, to the memory of Franz Liszt.

The main theme, announced in a commanding unison statement at the beginning of the first movement, appears in all four movements in various guises. This marks a transition towards greater maturity in larger symphonic forms and exhibits great dramatic sensibility, particularly in the outer movements.

We find plenty of ear-catching tunes, as well as Lisztian brass climaxes and tender Romantic lyricism, all mixed with dramatic intensity. Glazunov was transitioning beyond pure nationalism and towards a more personal, European-influenced voice.

As Igor Stravinsky writes, “Glazunov reigned supreme in the science of the symphony. Each new production of his was received as a musical event of the first order, so greatly were the perfections of his form, the purity of his counterpoint, and the ease and assurance of his writing appreciated.”  

Symphony No. 3: Sunny Lyricism

The Symphony No. 3 in D Major dates from 1890 and is dedicated to Tchaikovsky. Often considered one of his most attractive early works, it is full of lyrical and sunny melodic writing. Yet, it took him some years to complete this work, having sketched ideas as early as 1883.

In this symphony, Glazunov was looking to break away from the nationalist style of the compositions of “The Mighty Handful,” then the most important musical influence in Russia. For Glazunov, symphonic composition went beyond localised influences and strove towards universal forms, moods, and themes.

In essence, the work looks back to Tchaikovsky’s internationalism and shows a growing confidence in thematic development and orchestration. The first performance took place in St Petersburg in December 1890, conducted, because of the composer’s illness, by Lyadov.

Tchaikovsky approved of Glazunov’s effort, and the work’s lyrical episodes are clearly influenced by him. Glazunov reports that he often played the symphony’s scherzo to Tchaikovsky on the piano. Apparently, the only weakness that Tchaikovsky found was “some longueurs and the lack of pauses.”   

Symphony No. 4: Cosmopolitan

Alexander Glazunov composed his Symphony No. 4 in 1893, and it represents a departure from his earlier three symphonies. For the composer, this symphony allowed him to give personal, free, and subjective impressions of himself.

It is dedicated to Anton Rubinstein, a fellow composer and pianist who was long considered persona non grata to Balakirev and his friends. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov conducted the premiere on 22 January 1894, and he found the orchestration cumbersome in places, particularly in the third movement.

The work is unusual because it features only three movements and lacks direct Russian folk influences in its thematic material. It almost seems to take its bearings from Tchaikovsky’s abstract ballet music. Interestingly, the Scherzo movement unfolds like a tone poem, supposedly depicting the painting “Diana’s Chase” by Symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin.

In essence, this symphony reconciles both the Nationalist and Cosmopolitan styles, and the work was very popular in Europe. Glazunov was looking for a way to artistically present a reconciled and open-minded musical Russia, something he achieved through impeccable craftsmanship and his powers of invention.    

Symphony No. 5: Heroic Masterpiece

Alexander Glazunov by Ilya Repin

Glazunov’s Fifth Symphony is nicknamed the “Heroic Symphony,” and it is dedicated to his friend and fellow composer Sergei Taneyev. It might well be Glazunov’s most popular work, especially in America.

Glazunov frequently described this symphony as an architectural poem, with thematic transformation across the entire symphony guiding an unbroken continuity. The dance-like first subject grows from the opening maestoso, and the triumphant animato at the end of the final movement combines material used earlier in the work.

The delicate “Scherzo” was always an audience favourite, with the third movement exposing lush melodies that are constantly interrupted by brass chorales. With this monumental structure, Glazunov presents a wealth of details, shifting rhythms, and dazzling orchestration that all contribute to making this one of Glazunov’s finest symphonies.

Sadly, this symphony is rarely performed, as Shostakovich called it “old-fashioned.” At the end of the 19th century, music had to break boundaries relating to conventional harmony and tonality for it to be held in high regard. Today, we recognise it as his symphonic masterpiece.  

Symphony No. 6: Organic Whole

At the Hall of the Nobility in St. Petersburg, two world premieres took place on 15 March 1897. On offer were Glazunov’s Sixth Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s First, with both works conducted by Glazunov himself.

At this time Glazunov was enjoying overwhelming success on account of his Fifth Symphony and the ballet Raymonda, which were among the most popular works by a contemporary composer. On the other hand, Rachmaninoff’s symphony was a complete failure and the composer developed a profound neurosis.

Rimsky-Korsakov called Glazunov’s Sixth Symphony the highest point in his development. It is not as optimistic as the Third nor as confident as the Fifth, but it might be the most typically Russian of his symphonies. We find plenty of Tchaikovsky’s colourful woodwind writing in the central movements, and the powerful yearning quality characteristic of Russian symphonies at the turn of the century.

The Finale might well be one of Glazunov’s most successful closing movements, with the chorale theme introducing contrasting themes. He turns them into an organic whole, and the overall tone is powerful and very positive.   

Symphony No. 7: Pastoral Grace

Alexander Glazunov at Bertramka, 1928

Alexander Glazunov composed his Symphony No. 7 between 1902 and 1903, when he was at the height of his reputation as both composer and conductor. At that time, his mature style had fully crystallised, with lyricism and structural clarity taking precedence over dramatic or nationalist statements.

It is dedicated to the City of St. Petersburg in celebration of its bicentennial in 1903, but in its association with the rustic sound of Beethoven’s own Pastoral, it musically harkens back to Germanic music and classical thought.

As Glazunov writes, “More by instinct than by premeditated intention I wanted to combine variation form, which latterly I have come to love passionately, with sonata and rondo forms and to build my music more on contrapuntal than harmonic bases.”

The work throughout favours a serene and classical balance over high drama. It certainly represents the composer’s ideal of the symphony as an uplifting and noble art form, and while it lacks the tension and release of the Sixth Symphony, it provides melodic richness and an atmosphere of confident maturity.  

Symphony No. 8: Majestic Summit

Glazunov’s Symphony No. 8, premiered on 21 December 1906, represents the summation of his career as a symphonist. It combines complete mastery of ideas with a darker, more unsettled mood, one that has been a feature of some of his finest works.

It was composed at a time of great political turmoil, as Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War was followed by a wave of protests, political assassinations, and strikes. The events of the day may well reflect the sombre tone of the work, but as always in Glazunov’s symphonies, there is no extramusical programme.

It was Glazunov’s final completed symphony, and the opening movement engages in a wistful and yearning melancholy. The second movement presents an ominous three-note motif throughout, and its despairing outbursts are unique for Glazunov. A lighter-hearted scherzo leads the symphony to a majestic finale.

Symphony No. 9: Unfinished Mystery

Glazunov started work on his Symphony No. 9 in D minor in 1910, but it was still unfinished by the time of his death in 1936. Glazunov had only sketched the first movement and had given the score to Rimsky-Korsakov’s son-in-law Maximilian Steinberg in 1928. It was then orchestrated in 1947 by Gavriil Yudin.

The movement grows from the first four notes played by the viola in the slow introduction, reaching a dynamic climax. This process is followed in the “Allegro,” with the clarinet introducing a meandering second theme. The movement returns to the slow introduction and gradually fades away.

The nine symphonies by Alexander Glazunov trace his evolution from folk-infused optimism through his confident mastery of form and orchestration to a more introspective personal voice. Together they represent a musical bridge between Tchaikovsky’s emotional directness and the future Russian symphonic tradition.

Giovanni Legrenzi

 by Georg Predota  August 12th, 2026

A Composer Worth Rediscovering

Giovanni Legrenzi

The music of Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690), baptised on 12 August 1626, represents the final stage in the formation of the late Baroque style. Legrenzi rose from humble beginnings in the provinces to end his career as maestro di cappella of the ducal Basilica of St Mark’s in Venice.

Extremely influential in the development of the late Baroque idioms across northern Italy, Legrenzi’s music affected not only his documented pupils Antonio Lotti, Antonino Biffi, Giovanni Varischino, and possibly Tomaso Albinoni, but also Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi.

His compositions touch on virtually every genre practised in his time, and, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his birth in 2026, let us take a closer look at his life and musical achievements.      

From Clusone to Ferrara

Legrenzi was born in Clusone, near Bergamo, then part of the Republic of Venice. His father, Giovanni Maria, was a violinist, and young Giovanni was presumably educated at home. Little is known about his early years, but he is mentioned as organist at S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo in 1645.

Following his ordination as a priest in 1651, he was appointed resident chaplain. He became first organist in 1653, but his appointment as organist was not reconfirmed in 1654, “owing to his apparent involvement in a minor gambling scandal.” (Wikipedia)

Legrenzi was active in Bergamo in some capacity until April 1656, and the majority of his published output from this period consists of church music, including music for Mass and Vespers. Later in 1656, he became maestro di cappella at the Academy of the Holy Spirit in Ferrara.

The Ferrara Years

This academy of laymen performed sacred music and oratorios, addressing the needs of the aristocratic community of Ferrara. His position left him ample time for other pursuits, and his first opera, Nino il giusto, dates from 1662. Ferrara also provided him with aristocratic connections, which he cultivated assiduously.

Legrenzi’s output during his Ferrara years remained devoted to church music, yet he composed three operas, one oratorio, and several sonate da camera and dances. He left Ferrara in June 1665 after completing his third opera, Zenobia e Radamisto, but he retained strong ties with the city.

We have little information about Legrenzi’s activities for the next five years, except for positions he sought unsuccessfully or refused. He was apparently offered posts in Modena and Bergamo but refused them.  

Ambition and Setback

Giovanni Legrenzi: Giustino, image from the libretto, Venice 1683

Stephen Bonta writes, “A letter of 17 July 1665 shows that Legrenzi had enlisted the help of Carlo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, in a bold scheme to obtain the post of Kapellmeister at the Habsburg court in Vienna. His attempt was unavailing; the post was occupied by Antonio Bertali until 1669.” (Bonta, Grove Music Online, 2001)

Legrenzi himself wrote that he was appointed director of music at the court of Louis XIV but was unable to assume the position due to a grave illness. That appointment probably dates from 1668, and in 1669 he competed for the post of maestro di cappella of Milan Cathedral, but G.A. Grossi was elected.

Additional attempts at gaining employment were unsuccessful, but by 1670, Legrenzi was living in Venice. He held posts at several religious institutions, with an eye toward securing a position in one of the major churches in northern Italy.  

From Contender to Maestro

Legrenzi remained busy with additional compositions and publications, and he reports that he composed four Masses, more than 70 psalms and 80 motets, five Compline services, hymns, string sonatas, and keyboard sonatas. We don’t know whether any of these works survive.

In 1676 he was a finalist for appointment as maestro at San Marco in succession to Francesco Cavalli, losing by a single vote to Natale Monferrato. Legrenzi continued to receive appointments from religious institutions, and, along with Carlo Pallavicino, he was one of the leading opera composers of his day.

Legrenzi finally succeeded Monferrato as maestro di cappella at San Marco in April 1685. He greatly expanded the choir and the number of instrumentalists, but his health was beginning to fail. He once again turned to the composition of sacred music, but none of the music he composed for the S. Marco cappella seems to have survived.  

Legacy and Style

Giovanni Legrenzi died on 27 May 1690 and was buried in S. Maria della Fava. His great-nephew Giovanni Varischino inherited his books and music, and produced four posthumous publications. Legrenzi’s legacy endured for several years.

Stephen Bonta writes, “Legrenzi’s music is characterised by clarity of design achieved through the co-ordination of well-defined tonal drives and incisive themes employed in various repetitive schemes; a contrapuntal style in which line is subordinated to harmony and rhythm is metrically conceived; integration of the bass into the thematic process; and skilful employment of the new violin idiom without its more virtuoso special effects.” (Bonta, Grove Music Online, 2001)

Legrenzi’s style remains virtually the same regardless of genre, and there is little development or change throughout his career, only refinement. Although he is best known as a composer of instrumental sonatas, Legrenzi was predominantly a composer of liturgical music.  

Legacy and Rediscovery

Giovanni Legrenzi: Giustino, title page of the libretto, Venice 1683

He also composed nineteen operas, which were extravagantly presented and immensely popular, yet few have survived. His operatic style featured many short arias, and it is found in his operas, oratorios, cantatas, and motets.

Giovanni Legrenzi was one of the most gifted and important composers of his time. In his hands, traditional counterpoint loses all connotation of an academic exercise and becomes a texture rich in meaning and content.

He bridged the expressive vocal traditions of Monteverdi with the structural foundations later perfected by Vivaldi and Bach. He helped to establish Venice as a dominant musical centre, and shaped the trajectory of Italian instrumental and liturgical music.

As scores and new editions have become available over the last few decades, Legrenzi’s music has gradually gained traction. In addition, some of his surviving operas have seen significant revivals, expanding appreciation of his music beyond specialist circles.

The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Chopin’s Ultimate Challenge

 by Georg Predota  July 31st, 2026

The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, founded in 1927 and held every five years in Warsaw, is widely considered the most prestigious and important piano competition in the world. Every stage is uniquely devoted exclusively to the works of Frédéric Chopin, and past winners have profoundly shaped 20th– and 21st-century pianism.

Origins and Founding Vision

The competition was the vision of Polish pianist and pedagogue Jerzy Żurawlew. In 1925, troubled that Chopin’s music was being dismissed as overly romantic and enervating, Żurawlew conceived the idea of an international piano competition to promote it.

Funding nearly killed the project before it began, but it was rescued by the businessman Henryk Rewkiewicz, a music lover and board member of the Warsaw Music Society. With support from Polish President Ignacy Mościcki, the first competition got under way in 1927, and the exceptional Soviet pianist Lev Oborin, who subsequently became the permanent artistic partner of David Oistrakh, took first prize.

Lev Oborin   

Poster of the 1st Chopin Competition

Chopin Competition, 1937

Post-War Revival

Subsequent editions took place in 1932 and 1937, and they resumed after World War II in 1949, with the two great pianists Halina Czerny-Stefańska and Bella Davidovich sharing first prize. Due to the reconstruction of the National Philharmonic, there was a six-year break until 1955, and the podium featured the three great pianists Adam Harasiewicz, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Fou Ts’ong.

In 1957, it became a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. At that time, the competition was held near Chopin’s birthday in February, but because jurors and competitors often fell ill during this period, it was moved to October, the month in which Chopin died.

Chopin Competition, 1960   

Drama and Controversy

Like any great competition, it has had its share of drama. The 1980 edition was marked by the elimination of Ivo Pogorelich, whom juror Martha Argerich proclaimed a genius. When she quit the jury in an unprecedented act of protest, the controversy got properly started. First prize was withheld in 1990 and 1995, and it was not awarded again until Yundi Li won in 2000. The most recent winners include Seong-Jin Cho (2015), Bruce Liu (2021), and Eric Lu (2025).

Seong-Jin Cho   

How the Competition Works

Chopin Competition, 2021

Behind the glittering success of its legendary winners, including Pollini, Argerich, and Zimerman, lies one of the most rigorous and demanding competitions in classical music. The competition unfolds in two main phases, with pianists submitting recordings of their performances, from which the Qualifying Committee selects approximately 160 pianists to take part in the Preliminaries.

Chopin International Piano Competition, 2005

Chopin Competition, 2005

The Preliminaries are held roughly six months before the competition, and pianists perform a 30-minute recital. These Preliminaries are open to the public, and the Jury selects 80 of the best pianists who will take part in the main Competition.

The Competition itself is held in three stages and a final. Stage I involves the performance of selected etudes, a nocturne, and a ballad or a barcarolle or fantasia, and the field of 80 pianists is halved to around 40. In the second stage of the Competition, pianists perform a 40 to 50-minute recital, and the programme must include selected preludes and polonaises.

In Stage III, roughly 20 pianists present an hour-long recital comprising a selected sonata, a cycle of Mazurkas, and other Chopin compositions of their choice. The final test for the finalists is a performance of the Polonaise-Fantasie, Op. 61, and a selected piano concerto by Chopin, accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.   

The six highest-ranked finalists receive main prizes and the title of laureate. The winner of the 1st prize will receive €60,000 and a gold medal, the 2nd prize winner €40,000 and a silver medal, and the 3rd prize winner €35,000 and a bronze medal. The winners of the 4th, 5th and 6th prizes will receive €30,000, €25,000 and €20,000 respectively. The remaining finalists will be awarded equal prizes of €8,000.

Traditional special awards at the competition include the Polish Radio prize for the best mazurka performance (since 1927), the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw prize for the best polonaise (since 1960), and the National Philharmonic prize for the best performance of a piano concerto (since 1980).

A Lasting Legacy

While the names of the 1st prize winners belong to the pantheon of world pianism, the competition has also paved the way for international careers for many other prize winners, including Mitsuko Uchida, Ingrid Fliter, Gabriela Montero, Ingolf Wunder, and Daniil Trifonov. Recipients of special prizes have included Ivo Pogorelich, Nelson Goerner, Angela Hewitt, Christian Zacharias, and Emanuel Ax.

The Chopin Competition is the most important musical event in Poland and one of the most important musical and cultural events in the world. It gives young artists a powerful launch toward international careers, and, perhaps more importantly, it reminds us all that classical music still matters.

Maria João Pires (Born on July 23, 1944) Chopin’s Inner Music

 by Georg Predota  July 23rd, 2026

Born on 23 July 1944 in Lisbon, Portugal, Maria João Pires is one of the most introspective artists of our time. Her playing is a study in poetic refinement that reveals an almost spiritual connection to the music.

Her recordings of Mozart’s piano sonatas balance imagination and spontaneity, while her Schubert interpretations are treasured for their poetic simplicity. If there is one recording, however, that is most closely identified with her artistry, it is surely the 1996 Deutsche Grammophon recording of the complete Chopin Nocturnes.

To celebrate her birthday on 23 July, let us return to this exceptional and award-winning recording, often regarded as one of the finest accounts of Chopin’s Nocturnes ever committed to disc.  

Poetry Before Virtuosity

Distinguishing Chopin’s poetic voice from his virtuosity, Maria João Pires explained that, “Before everything else, Chopin is a poet. It’s very inner music and very deep. I don’t feel at all that it’s for show. Chopin is the deep poet of music. But he also invented this terrible thing called piano recitals. That made me suffer all my life.” (Judd, Poetry of Chopin, 2016)

Maria João Pires

Pires, who has long felt uncomfortable with the performer-centred culture of the concert stage throughout her life, views Chopin’s music as an expression of profound inner emotions and intimate reflection.

Height of Artistic Maturity

Pires signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in the late 1980s. During the 1990s, DG increasingly presented her as one of its leading pianists, and the Chopin Nocturnes released in 1996 coincided with the height of her artistic maturity.

Maria João Pires, Chopin: The Nocturnes (Deutsche Grammophon)

Her interpretation is immediately recognisable for its vocal lyricism and natural rubato. Critics frequently remarked on her ability to sustain long melodic lines and to create an atmosphere of intimacy.

Beyond the Salon

The album was internationally commended, receiving the Record Academy Prize in Tokyo, the CD Compact Award in Barcelona, and the Grand Prix du Disque in 1997. In addition, it was nominated for a Grammy Award and was overwhelmingly admired by critics.

Maria João Pires

Bryce Morrison in Gramophone writes, “Passion rather than insouciance is Pires’ keynote.
Here is an intensity and drama that scorn all complacent salon or drawing-room expectations.
How she relishes Chopin’s central storms, creating a vivid and spectacular yet unhistrionic contrast with all surrounding serenity or embalmed darkness.” (Morrison, Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010)

Critical Responses

Morrison continues to describe her interpretation as reinforcing a sense of Chopin’s stature and creating a new range of possibilities. “Yet moving ahead, one has no hesitation in declaring Maria João Pires to be among the most eloquent master-musicians of our time.” (Morrison, Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010)

Maria João Pires (photo by Felix Broede / DG)

However, Pires also received extensive criticism from advocates of historically informed performance practice. By not returning to the manuscripts, she takes liberties with the dynamics and distorts phrases through fluctuating tempi.

Beauty Beyond Critique

Pires has also been criticised for mistaking passages which should be played strictly in time for recitative, and for unstylishly over-dramatising the musical text. Despite reservations about her interpretative choices, reviews suggest that Pires’ playing stood above much of the competition within the prevailing traditions of Chopin performance.

Three decades after its release, Pires’ recording remains a work of pianistic beauty. It offers sincerity and poetic insight, and an encounter with what she herself called Chopin’s “very inner music.”

John Field’s Seven Piano Concertos (Born on July 26, 1782) The Seeds of Chopin

 by Georg Predota  July 26th, 2026

The legendary pianist and composer John Field (1782-1837), born somewhere between Beethoven and Schubert, was a new pianist for a new era. He is credited with writing music in a style closer to Chopin‘s and with inventing the nocturne.

Field’s nocturnes are a window into the salons of 19th-century Europe, but to celebrate his birthday on 26 July, let us highlight the more public side of his artistic persona by featuring his seven piano concertos. In fact, like any good Netflix series, let’s binge-listen to all of them.  

A Pianist for a New Age

In short, John Field was born in Dublin and moved to London to study with Muzio Clementi. The 12-year-old boy was an instant sensation, and Clementi took him on extended tours of the continent. After performing in Paris and Vienna, teacher and student went on an excursion to Russia.

In time, he became the biggest name on the salon circuit, mesmerising audiences with performances of his music. He also set up a highly successful private piano studio, giving lessons to affluent and well-educated members of society.

John Field

John Field was a special virtuoso, with contemporaries telling of his delicacy of touch and the refinement of his sonority. Powerful chords and blazing velocity were simply not part of his style. Instead, particularly in his character pieces, he focused entirely on tone, colour and shading.

In his short twilight meditations, the nocturnes, words faded away in favour of pure emotion. Field made great use of the technical improvements of the instrument, using a more sustained legato, a greater variety of touch, a subtler range of dynamics, and a more efficient use of the sustaining pedal.  

Pointers Towards Maturity

John Field performed his first piano concerto on 7 February 1799 at the King’s Theatre in London. However, it was first published only in 1814 in St Petersburg after having undergone substantial revisions. And we do know that Field himself sometimes played this concerto without an orchestra, omitting orchestral passages and making adjustments as necessary.

The work opens almost in a Mozartian style, but we soon hear the widely-spaced accompaniment with ornamented flourishes in the piano. A dramatic development switches to the minor key, and the thematic material sounds like modulating progressions later much used by Chopin.

The slow movement consists of two variations on James Hook’s song “Within a mile of Edinburgh Town,” introducing some fashionable exoticism. The Scottish air is simply stated and features the characteristic rhythmic snap. Short cadenzas lead to subsequent variations on the tune.

The concluding “Rondo” opens with an imitation of bagpipe drones, followed by a “cuckoo” motif in the piano. Plenty of Mozartian touches appear in the tutti passages, while the episodes offer some pianistic bravura.

As Philip Buttall writes, “Although this concerto does not show the composer as fully-developed, it does, nevertheless, exhibit one or two pointers towards his later style…There is a lot of passage-work not only to be seen again in Field’s works, but also to be developed in the works of Chopin. (Buttall, Field Concertos, 2005)   

A Blueprint for Chopin

Composed after settling in Russia, Field’s piano concerto No. 2 in A-flat major was a highly influential blueprint for Chopin’s own piano concertos. This once-celebrated concerto was admired and taught by Chopin, and Robert Schumann called it “divine.”

Title page: John Field’s Piano Concerto No. 2

Its origins probably date to around 1811, but it was first published in Leipzig in 1816. The first subject is given by the strings alone, and subsequently joined by clarinets and a lengthy tutti section.

However, it is with the piano’s first entry that Field established a new era, laying down the foundation on which the generation of Romantic composers would build. Here, the soloist enters with his own treatment of the principal theme, elegantly developed, before the music moves to the secondary contrast.

We might also mention that “Field’s accompanying use of the orchestra is considerably fuller and more imaginative than Chopin’s.” (Buttall, Field Concertos, 2005) The “Poco Adagio” is as much a Nocturne as any of his pieces in that genre, and it was published separately as a romance and a serenade.

The concluding “Rondo” is based on a bouncy melody that returns to frame various episodes, but the primary purpose of pianistic display is never really forgotten. This concerto was played throughout the 19th century, as the appealing thematic material and its most effective piano-writing easily account for its former popularity.  

A Tribute to Clementi

Field dedicated his Third Concerto to Muzio Clementi, and it seems to have been written before his second concerto. Stylistically it is closer to the Concerto No. 1, scored for similar orchestral forces and in the same key.

Unusually, the Third Concerto only features two long and brilliant outer movements, and in later years, Field often wedged one of his Nocturnes between these movements. In the featured Chandos recording, Field’s orchestral arrangement of the Nocturne in B-flat Major was used.

The opening “Allegro” movement opens with a beautiful orchestral theme that spins its way to a second group of lyrical contrasts. Once again, the piano makes a declamatory entrance and wanders expressively through a wide range of major and minor keys.

The finale is marked “Tempo di polacca” and unfolds in the manner of a polonaise used in Russia at balls and courtly occasions. It features a good-humoured theme followed by playful passage work. A central episode apparently made listeners weep, and it all ends in a jovial tutti. 

The Lyrical Romantic

Field’s fourth concerto in E-flat major probably dates from around 1814, and it has been described as one of the most beautiful of all Romantic concertos. Eve Bersham writes, “Field was at the height of his powers, as yet in good health and flourishing financially, his fame having by now spread far beyond St Petersburg. Soon the work was in print both in Russia and in Germany, and Field eventually made an arrangement of it for piano solo.” (Bersham, Field Piano Concertos)

Scored for a slightly smaller orchestra, the first subject is quietly announced by the strings alone, followed by a military-sounding transition that leads into the elegant second subject. The soloist’s first statement features lyrical embellishments before a tender Romantic theme is introduced.

The orchestral passages are primarily accompanimental, but they nevertheless provide some colourful passages. However, the stirring martial rhythms overrule all gentleness. The slow movement is titled “Siciliano,” and it might take its inspiration from a slow movement of a Mozart Piano concerto with hints of Mendelssohn sprinkled over the music.

The concluding “Allegretto” sounds like a nursery tune, with witty harmonic digressions and plenty of pianistic challenges. Alongside lively orchestration and brilliant piano writing, Field also reveals humour as an important facet of his musical personality.  

The Blazing Storm

Field’s 5th Piano Concerto was once among his most popular and colourful pieces. Inscribed “The Blazing Storm,” it originates from the rivalry between Field and Daniel Steibelt, who in 1815 also lived and worked in St Petersburg.

Steibelt had composed a concerto subtitled “The Storm,” and Field’s “Blazing Storm” was certainly calculated to outdo the programmatic effects of the earlier work. From the very beginning, Field is not simply suggesting a storm, but some kind of catastrophe resulting from it.

John Field: Nocturnes

The opening “Allegro” starts gently and lyrically, with no hint of the drama to come. However, regarding the development section, we understand the addition of a bass trombone and additional percussion. Now turning to C minor, with the wind increasing, there are rumbles of thunder in the distance.

We can hear some lighting, gusts of wind, and a downpour, when an unexpected harmonic digression leads to an enormous crash on the tam-tam. Once the storm subsides, we are still treated to a devilishly difficult cadenza.

The “Adagio” is mainly taken by the orchestra, with the piano entering in quick flurries between phrases. The orchestra continues serenely, and we enter the “Allegro” rondo without pause. Another light-hearted theme is decorated and embellished, offering plenty of charm and entertainment for an adventurous soloist.  

The Russian March

The Piano Concerto No. 6, again scored in C Major, was first heard in St Petersburg in 1819. Like all Field concertos, it was thoroughly revised before publication. The work opens with a grandiose military march that turns more lyrical. It is then decorated by the piano and spun into what could possibly pass as a Russian folksong.

The “Larghetto” turns out to be an arrangement of Field’s 6th nocturne, and the concluding “Moderato” might have been composed in some haste. It is, by comparison, probably the slightest and lightest in all of Field’s concertos.

It does include many florid and attractive passages, but there are no real contrasting episodes of any melodic distinction. As such, Field probably decided to conclude this work in an overly cheerful manner.

Seeds of Chopin

Field’s only concerto in the minor key had a lengthy gestation period. The first movement of Field’s Seventh Concerto was performed by the composer in Moscow in 1822. The completed work, with a dedication to Mademoiselle d’Albini, was first performed in 1832 in Paris and published two years later.

At the first complete performance in Paris, both Liszt and Chopin were in the audience, and Schumann later suggested that it may have influenced his own concerto. Field’s last concerto is scored for the full resources of the orchestra, including timpani and bass trombone.

The timpani open the first movement, followed by a subject played by the clarinet and bassoon. The piano then remains the centre of attention, including a slow section modelled after Nocturne No. 12. The second of the two movements is again a rondo, with the principal theme evoking Russian ballrooms.

The celebrated critic, François-Joseph Fétis, wrote in the Revue Musicale that the Seventh Concerto was “diffuse, but full of happy ideas.” For the Parisian public, however, it was an immediate success.

John Field’s Memorial plaque, Golden Lane

Philip Buttall writes, “John Field not only invented the nocturne, but also brought into being a whole new range of pianistic expressiveness and feeling, from the cantilena melodies, with their opera-like embellishments in the Nocturnes and the Concertos, to the bravura technical passages and devices in the latter, and in other works.” (Buttall, Field Concertos, 2005)

Having listened to all seven of Field’s concertos, I have been struck by how much of Field’s influence seems to be present in Chopin’s two concertos. The singing melodic lines, ornamental filigree, and nocturne-like lyricism abound, as does the tendency to treat the orchestra as an elegant frame for the piano’s poetic utterances. It seems that the seeds of Chopin’s concerto style had been planted several decades earlier.