John Field was an Irish pianist and composer of the early Romantic period, born in Dublin and trained there before moving to London to study with Muzio Clementi; from 1803 he settled in Russia, living principally in Saint Petersburg and Moscow for the remainder of his career. He is credited with inventing the nocturne, composing eighteen examples characterized by a singing melody set over arpeggiated accompaniment, alongside seven piano concertos noted for imaginative orchestration and other piano works including sonatas and fantasies. He died in Moscow in 1837 from pneumonia.

Field’s creation of the nocturne as a piano genre directly shaped the work of later Romantic composers, most notably Chopin, and also influenced Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms, while his decades of teaching and performing in Russia helped lay the foundations of the Russian piano school. Franz Liszt paid tribute to him by publishing an edition of his nocturnes with an extensive eulogy, and though later overshadowed by the composers he inspired, Field remains recognized as a foundational figure in the history of Romantic piano music.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Field_(composer)