John Field was a pianist of remarkable ability, his playing marked by a particular delicacy of nuance in contrast to the contemporary fashion for technical virtuosity. As a composer he developed that very poetic form of piano music, the nocturne, and added to the concerto repertoire in the popular style of his time. Born in Dublin, he rose to fame as a child prodigy in his home city, but spent the greater part of his life abroad, fêted as a virtuoso in the cultural capitals of Paris, London, Moscow and St Petersburg. The Piano Concertos Nos. 5 and 6 date from his time in Europe; the title of No. 5 refers to the composer’s depiction of ‘fire by lightning’.