A nocturne by Irish composer John Field is performed for the first time in a century.
John Field (1782-1837) who was from Ireland travelled through Europe working as a pianist before settling in first St Petersburgh and then Moscow during the era of Catherine the Great. He is credited with being the inventor of the nocturne, a musical composition inspired by the night.
Lindsay Armstrong is director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music and founder of the New Irish Chamber Orchestra. He got to know scholar Patrick Pigott, when the Irish Chamber Orchestra was in the process of recording John Field's piano concertos with pianist John O’Connor.
A meeting with Patrick Pigott led to his performance of a nocturne by John Field which had long disappeared from circulation, but which he planned to publish himself.
This never came to fruition, but after Patrick Piggot’s death, his estate’s executor sent Lindsay Armstrong, and a box containing papers including a copy of the long lost nocturne. The source remains a mystery, but as Lindsay Armstrong explains the nocturne demonstrates the best qualities of John Field as a composer.
'A New Nocturne In B Flat’ by John Field is performed by Gillian Smith.
This episode of 'Arts Express’ was broadcast on 11 December 1990. The presenter is Mike Murphy.
'Arts Express' was a fast-moving magazine-style arts programme presented by Mike Murphy. Anne Roper joined him as co-presenter for the second series. Reporters included John Waters, Mary O'Sullivan and Ferdia Mac Anna. It covered theatre, cinema, books and music as well as the fine arts, and aimed to give a taste each week of what was new in the field of arts and entertainment. It was first broadcast on 22 September 1989 and ran for two series.
