After having lived in St. Petersburg for close to a decade, Field, along with his wife Adelaide and their newborn son, moved to Smolensk in 1819. By that time, the marriage was close to ending, however, and soon after the move, Adelaide left Field and carried on an independent career as a piano teacher. It was in these stressful circumstances that Field composed the sixth of his seven piano concertos. The Concerto No. 6 was given its premiere in 1819 and after a revision the following year, was eventually published in both Moscow and Leipzig in 1823. Field had made quite an impression with the Piano Concerto No. 5, with its vivid portrait of a firestorm. The Concerto No. 6, despite its length and complexity, did not go over quite so well. But it still contains a number of delightful ideas and provides the kind of opportunities for display on the part of the soloist that Field's enthusiasts had come to expect. The lengthy first movement, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the concerto's half-hour duration, begins with a lighthearted march theme that recurs throughout the movement, as does the more flowing second idea. Field actually provides a number of themes that are worked over in a rhapsodic fashion. A noteworthy episode in the key of B flat—featuring a theme in the pianist's left hand over triplets in the right hand and quiet chords from the orchestra—bears a resemblance to Schubert's Der Wanderer, although Field likely didn't know of this contemporaneous piece. The second movement is an arrangement of Field's gentle Nocturne No. 6 transposed from its original key of F into E major. This song without words is light and graceful, with transparent orchestral backing. A rather exotic, quasi-Oriental theme acts as the refrain of the Rondo final movement, in which the soloist gets an opportunity to shine in Field's exciting, extravagant piano writing.

© All Music Guide