Search - John [Composer] Field, Pietro Spada :: John Field: Complete Piano Music: Nocturnes Nos. 1-15

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marcel195 | Victoria Australia | 07/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A natural regression for any lover of Chopin would seem to be to the music of John Field - specifically the nocturnes. However, this is no downward step. Field's nocturnes may seem a little simple in comparison with Chopin's, but on the first hearing this music gently pulls you away into wonderful landscapes and emotions. It would be natural to assume that in his later years John Field may have felt left behind, overshadowed by the success of Chopin, Mendelssohn, List, Schubert etc. - listening to his nocturnes, there is no hint of any such sentiment. In fact, Field's music very often reaches perfection, saying all it needs to say, with apparent simplicity; a guise which belies delicate subtleties, allowed only to penetrate one's soul through secret levels of consciousness known only to the composer himself.Essentially, this is pure nocturne format: beautiful right-hand melodies over left-hand figuration. The harmony is classical, yet retains an originality leaving the music still fresh after around 200 years. While some of the nocturnes give insight into where a few of Chopin's ideas may have budded, Field's works are as Fieldesque as Chopin's are Chopinesque. But, equally, it requires a real talent to sing the melodies which often burst out in a flowering reminiscent of the "bel canto" style in the great Italian operas of the time. Pietro Spada displays a real gift in both technique and musicality, allowing Field's ideas to spring forth and invite us to meditate upon their charming wisdom. Each note is crisp and his expression is tasteful, retaining that apathetic air so present in all of Field's compositions - it's music that exists because it must exist, somehow more a part of nature or the cosmos than of humanity. Essentially, I believe Spada aimed to allow us to forget the player, the composer, and simply experience the music itself - unless this was Field's original aim and it just comes through the playing. Either way, this is simply fantastic music presented extremely well by Pietro Spada. Not all the nocturnes are on this volume though: others appear on the volume after this one along with several other compositions. However, all of Field's music is worth spending time with, though I would recommend starting with this one."