John Field—Inventor of the Nocturne

John Field is known both for originating the nocturne, and for his profound influence on those written by Chopin. This is my first time working on one of his pieces.

 I performed Nocturne No. 5 in a lesson with Mr. Cosmo last week. Regarding the work, he advised that the style is similar to Chopin's nocturnes, and because it progresses with a constant rhythm, the music can become too regimented, which can prove problematic because it gets in the way of musicality. He also emphasized the importance of rubato and advised me to hold back to create engaging passages, while taking the time needed to play grace notes with a lot of volume, just like a singer would; as well as practicing playing the melody alone in order to decide how I want to phrase the notes of the right hand.

Along with those suggestions, he said that consistent with the style of the time, adding ornaments is a good idea if the performer wishes. I gave it some thought and added some in several places in the video.

I’m still having to decide exactly how I want to do this, and if my choices for ornamentation need to be more refined.

I look forward to discussing some other new ideas for this work with Mr. Cosmo at our next lesson!

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