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Tommaso
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Chopin is the composer I like most of all, an older friend of mine told me about a certain Field whom I do not know.
He explained to me that Chopin didn't invent nocturnes... I was a bit taken aback by that...
Did he tell me correctly?
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Yes, various nocturnes are by John Field.
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Sergio wrote:Yes, several nocturnes are by John Field.
John Field invented the "nocturne" genre, which Chopin later made famous. One shouldn't feel bad about it; Chopin remains a genius and Field will forever be "the one who invented a genre that Chopin brought to its highest expression.".
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In your presentation Carlos, how would you thread in other works of the genre, like Grieg's nocturne?
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Gianni22 wrote:In your exposition Carlos, how would you insert other works of the genre, such as Grieg's nocturne?
I confess I do not know Grieg's Nocturne (or maybe I do, but I don't know, that happens sometimes...), but I would say, in general, that when speaking of "nocturnes" one must refer to a "before Chopin" and an "after Chopin". Unfortunately for Field, his name is only remembered when studying his most famous and lamented Polish colleague, have you noticed? One studies Chopin, speaks of nocturnes and... «a genre among others invented by the Irish pianist and composer John Field», to which everyone says «John who?» and the subject is closed... Unfortunately for him, Field was born in Ireland and unfortunately for him he was a contemporary of a sacred monster named Ludwig van Beethoven, who however was born in Germany and had moved to Vienna. Among other things, Field was a pupil of Clementi in London, but came to the continent, to Paris, when LVB was already famous, around 1800 (and indeed he later moved to St. Petersburg). His music, which I know very little about, I confess, is not bad at all (he even wrote 7 piano concertos, would you have ever thought so?).
To answer your question more carefully, I return to saying that the "before xyz" and the "after xyz" is common to many musical genres, see for example the symphony. There is a "before Haydn" and an "after Haydn" and then there will be a "before Beethoven" and an "after Beethoven", even if they are actually very close. In reality, Beethoven represents a watershed for many genres. It's a good thing he didn't write nocturnes, otherwise he would have stolen the exclusivity from Chopin! In short, the difference in this case is that the "before Chopin" regarding nocturnes is, practically, a contemporary of Chopin and is by no means known to most...
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Carlos wrote:I confess I do not know Grieg's Nocturne
Very beautiful, in my opinion you know it... and if you don't know it, satisfy your curiosity, Op 54 no. 4
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Frank wrote:treat yourself, Op. 54 no. 4
Thanks! I didn't know it: just listened to the (sublime...) interpretation by Emil Gilels, which I am sharing, since we are on theme.
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Very fascinating this nocturne by Grieg, and a splendid interpretation by Gilels, as always for the rest.
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Carlos wrote:Thanks! I didn't know it: just listened to the (sublime...) interpretation by Emil Gilels, which I am sharing, since we are on theme.
I find that Grieg, in terms of refinement, has a writing style very close to Chopin. A great musician who, thanks to this piece, can boast of having had his say in this field ... despite the giant Chopin.
As for Tommaso's request, as Carlos rightly says there is always a before and an after, among the afters... just to have another point of comparison, I also suggest a nocturne by Rachmaninoff (among other things, we somewhat "messed around" with the theme last year in the workshop dedicated to the piano piece)
http://conquest.imsl...ux_de_Salon.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RooBzhVObKQ
