When German publishers Breitkopf and Härtel set out to issue the very first editions of John Field's first four piano concertos in 1815 and 1816, they perhaps didn't realize that one had already slipped by them—the Concerto No. 4 in E flat major had been published in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1814. This fourth concerto marks a return to the three-movement form heard in Field's first two concertos, after a brief digression to two-movement form for the Concerto No. 3. (It is also further evidence of Field's deep love for E flat major—three of the first four concertos are cast in that key!) While never as famous as the Concerto No. 2 in A flat major, this work is widely regarded as Field's best piano concerto. Field himself must have liked it, for he took the trouble to make a complete arrangement for solo piano as late as 1824.

The concerto's first movement is the usual sectionalized compound of lyricism and virtuosity. Smooth strings and woodwinds at the opening, piano comes in more forcefully. Field called the second movement a Siciliano; do not wait, however, for the characteristic dotted sicilienne rhythm, for it never comes. In G minor, it is to be played at Poco adagio tempo, and exists in early and late versions that give us a glimpse at Field's compositional process—that process seems often to have been quick draft and gradual revision. The Allegretto rondo that finishes the concerto is wonderfully spirited; Field seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly, and from time to time the piano and orchestra come very close (perilously close, to some tastes) to seeming like a couple dancing a do-si-do.

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