- Biography
- Piano Concerto No. 1
- Piano Prelude No. 1
- Piano Concerto No. 2
- Symphony No. 2
- Piano Concerto No. 3
- Thirteen Preludes
- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Biography
Imagine the steamy scene on the station platform in the classic film ‘Brief Encounter’ and hear in your mind the evocative romantic music that so heightened that emotional moment.
It was Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2, one of the most popular pieces of all time and essential in your collection.
It’s a brilliant example of music from the romantic period and ranks amongst Rachmaninov’s greatest triumphs.
He was born into an aristocratic family on the estate of Oneg, between St Petersburg and Moscow.
However, the family’s fortunes were declining and when Rachmaninov was nine the estate was sold and his parents split up.
Sergei was the fifth of six children and showed exceptional talent very early on, probably inherited from his father, who was also an excellent pianist.
Rachmaninov was sent to the St Petersburg Conservatoire in 1883 at just ten years of age, but stayed for only a couple of years before moving on to the celebrated Moscow Conservatoire to study with Sverev.
Sverev was a master pianist and a highly respected teacher who insisted that his pupils lived with him so that he could supervise their overall development and take them to concerts and the opera, also giving them the chance to mingle with the artistic celebrities of the day.
Rachmaninov shared a room with another boy and they took turns to use the piano, on which they had to practise in three-hour stretches.
Sverev omitted to look after Rachmaninov’s undoubted talent as a composer, and this appears to be the one glaring failing in his otherwise meticulous and highly productive method of instruction.
After attending a summer school for students of advanced harmony and composition, Rachmaninov composed a study in F sharp minor for piano.
Sverev was so impressed with the piece that he played it to Tchaikovsky, who was also extremely taken by the work.
This led to Rachmaninov’s being allowed to have formal lessons in composition, but these were not very successful, and after falling out with both his composition teacher and Sverev Rachmaninov decided to leave the Conservatoire a year early.
He passed his final exams with honours and was awarded a Gold Medal for his composition exam.
Sverev was at the presentation ceremony and, despite their former falling out, he was so delighted to see his young protégé receiving such a high accolade that he gave him his own gold watch, a memento that Rachmaninov was to treasure for the rest of his days.
Rachmaninov did not have an easy life: he had moderate successes as a composer but none of these provided him with any kind of a stable income to fund a secure base from which to work.
Alongside doing a bit of accompanying and teaching (which he loathed) he set to work on a symphony which received its first performance in 1897, conducted by Glazunov (another Russian composer).
The performance was a complete disaster.
It was not only one of his weaker pieces but it also received a very second-rate performance.
Rachmaninov realised this and went into a severe depression, only to be brought out some months later by a wealthy friend who provided him with the opportunity of a conductorship at the Moscow Opera House.
The move to Moscow so inspired Rachmaninov that he started to produce very good work again, but after a tour to England, where he received wonderful reviews for his tone poem The Rock and the now famous Prelude in C sharp minor for piano, he returned to Russia and immediately slipped back into his depression.
A psychologist named Dahl helped him out of this phase by some form of auto-suggestion along the lines: ‘You are going to start writing and it will be excellent’.
It worked: Rachmaninov went on to complete the Piano Concerto No. 2, got married and had two lovely children.
His life then seemed to be a relatively happy mixture of work as a composer, a conductor and a concert pianist He has been hailed as probably one of the finest pianists since Liszt, and we are fortunate to have recordings of him performing his own works in the current catalogues.
Rachmaninov and his family moved around quite a lot in the following years, settling in the USA in 1918 and in Switzerland in 1931.
The last thirty or so years of his life were spent mainly as a concert pianist, as he was finding composition increasingly difficult.
He was struck down with cancer in the early 1940s and he died one month after his last recital, on 28 March 1943.
He is buried in the Kensico Cemetery in New York.
Rachmaninov is the natural successor to Tchaikovsky in the Russian romantic music school. Whilst pointing you enthusiastically towards such popular works the Second and Third Piano Concertos, the Second Symphony and a few of the Preludes, I can also recommend a closer look at many of his other works.
Piano Concerto No. 1
Piano Concerto No. 1 in F Sharp Minor Op. 1
1891, Concerti, Orchestral
Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto was also the first major work he composed, and is often seen as a highly personal piece – so personal in fact that he sometimes felt uncomfortable performing it. Having written it in 1891 he always felt that it needed reworking, yet found he never had the time nor the inspiration. However, in 1917 the Bolsheviks assumed power and Rachmaninov, once a supporter of the revolution, soon became disillusioned with the new regime, having lost nearly all he owned. Recalling Tolstoy’s advice that ‘only by hard work can one lessen the weight of life’s burdens’, he decided that this would be the time to rewrite his concerto.
He set to work and recomposed it from start to finish, retaining its youthful freshness, but presenting the ideas and themes with all the sophistication of a mature technique. He became so involved with his work that he practically lost track of the major political upheavals that were going on around him, until the day came when, attempting to compose a new work, he found he was completely drained, creatively as well as physically.
The fact that Rachmaninov was also a fantastic virtuoso pianist is evident in this fine work.
Piano Prelude No. 1
Piano Prelude Op. 32, No. 1
1892, Keyboard Works
Rachmaninov was only nineteen when he wrote what later became one of his most famous piano works (he wrote twenty-four preludes altogether). It plagued him all his life, as the work was constantly requested at his concerts, even when he wanted to show off newer material.
Piano Concerto No. 2
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor Op. 18: Moderato
1900, Concerti, Orchestral
The story of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto is a lesson in turning a seemingly bad and hopeless situation around to create a work of genius. In 1897 the twenty-four-year-old Rachmaninov had just seen his First Symphony go down as an abysmal failure, and this had come to him as something of a shock. At the same time he had begun to become bored with the artist’s lifestyle of cafes and restaurants that was, arguably, expected of him, and as he lost interest in his life he also lost confidence in his ability to compose.
Even when, on a visit to London, he was invited to perform a piano concerto of his own (though, at the time, he had only written one) with the Philharmonic, he could not be pulled out of his depression – though he did accept the offer.
Rachmaninov did not consider his First Piano Concerto worthy of performance and his depression worried his friends so much that they sent him to a Dr Dahl, who was famous for his work in hypnotism. The transformation was amazing, and Rachmaninov soon found himself composing a second piano concerto with a new lease of life. When it was completed, in 1900, he dedicated it to Dr Dahl.
The first movement (Andante) opens with the solo piano playing a long series of chords, the melody being picked up by dark-voiced cellos as the piano accompanies them. A second theme is introduced on the piano but is soon passed to a French horn over some trembling strings. We round off with a short coda and a sudden conclusion.
The second section is also very Romantic, full of yearning and melody, with a clever duet at one point between the right hand of the pianist and the woodwinds.
The bright finale begins with some low rhythmic mutterings from the orchestra, when the piano suddenly splashes in with a driving pace which eventually subsides to return to the original melody. The conclusion is a glittering whirlwind climax with the orchestra and soloist seemingly racing each other to the finish.
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2 in E Minor Op. 27: 4th Movement
1907, Symphonies, Orchestral
‘I have escaped from my friends’, said Rachmaninov with a smile of satisfaction to an acquaintance who ran into him in the streets of Dresden during the winter of 1906–7, ‘please don’t give me away.’
It was certainly a strange thing to say, yet Rachmaninov had a real need to remove himself from his immediate social and physical environs purely because he was constantly in demand as a guest, speaker, performer and such-like. His time had become so rarely his own that his professional duties, i.e. composition, were being neglected. Thus it was that in the autumn of 1906 he took his wife and daughter and, telling as few people as he could get away with, caught a train from Moscow for the West to find peace, quiet and inspiration.
After the huge failure of his First Symphony, Rachmaninov had put off the writing of second for some time, yet now he felt that he was capable of having another go. He began work in Dresden in October 1906 and had finished the first draft by New Year’s Day 1907. The piece was given its premiere in St Petersburg in January 1908, conducted by Rachmaninov himself, and became one of his most popular works.
The first movement (Largo; Allegro moderato) introduces on the strings the main theme for the entire work, which eventually rounds off with a passionate coda. The second section (Allegro molto) begins with a strong four-horn melody that is quickly grabbed and enhanced by the violins. It contrasts nicely with the Adagio of the third movement, a slow melodic section that is often cut from performances. The finale opens with a wild burst of energy which, at a later point, recalls the themes of the first movement. The work has an exuberant conclusion.
Piano Concerto No. 3
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor Op. 30: 3rd Movement
1909, Concerti, Orchestral
Rachmaninov finished his Third Piano Concerto in 1909, barely in time for his first tour of the United States. He himself was the soloist for the world premiere in New York on 28 November 1909, which successfully took place with the Symphony Society of New York.
The second performance was more interesting, however, for it was conducted by none other than Gustav Mahler; Rachmaninov was again at the piano, the orchestra this time being the New York Philharmonic.
The preparations for the concert remained long in Rachmaninov’s memory, largely due to the impact of Mahler’s forceful personality, and years later he recalled:
‘At that time, Mahler was the only conductor whom I considered worthy to be classed with Nikisch [a famous conductor of the time]. He touched my composer’s heart straight away by devoting himself to my Concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practised to the point of perfection, although he had already gone through a long rehearsal.’
After a particularly gruelling practise, Rachmaninov remembered a particular incident:
‘At last we had finished. I went up to the conductor’s desk, and together we examined the score. The musicians in the back seats began quietly to pack up their instruments and to disappear. Mahler blew up: “What is the meaning of this?” The leader: “It is after half past one, Master.” “That makes no difference! As long as I am sitting, no musician has a right to get up!”
The work opens with two bars of orchestral accompaniment before the pianist enters with a sad melody that seems to twist and turn on itself before being developed by a combination of violas and two French horns.
The second movement (Adagio) is dominated by the soloist and leads directly into the finale, which recalls the initial themes of the concerto and builds to a climax and conclusion of great brilliance.
Thirteen Preludes
Thirteen Preludes Op. 32
1910, Keyboard Works
This set of thirteen preludes for solo piano was written in the summer of 1910, and many of them echo much of his liturgical work that he composed around the same time. However, not all are religious, as Rachmaninov often found inspiration in paintings and sculpture, such as in Prelude No. 10, which is based on a self-portrait by Arnold Bocklin called ‘The Return’
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: 18th Variation
1934, Concerti
Nicolò Paganini is probably the greatest violinist that ever lived and always serves as one of the best examples of Romantic virtuosity. He was worshipped by his public for his dashing personality and almost supernatural technique as well as for his highly technical compositions.
This rhapsody was inspired by a theme from Paganini’s ‘Twenty-Four Caprices for Solo Violin’ and may be familiar to many as the source of ‘The South Bank Show’ title music, which is, in fact, by Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
Like Paganini, Rachmaninov made a striking physical impression on stage: tall and sombre with an unsmiling dignity, totally absorbed in his powerful projection of the music in hand. Had he lived in another age, rather than the turn of this century, his public manner would surely have given birth to romantic legends, as was the case with Paganini, especially as he had an unexplained fondness for the ‘Dies irae’ – a portion of the Mass for the Dead describing the terrors of the Last Judgement.
The music consists of an introduction, the main theme, and twenty-four variations, the seventh, tenth and twenty-fourth of which add, for no apparent reason, the chant of the ‘Dies irae’. The main theme is initially stated, appropriately enough, by the violins and then reinforced by the piano. Having a strong rhythmic feel, it readily offers itself as the basis for the subsequent variations, even when slowed down to an Andante cantible. The variations become increasingly brilliant towards the end, where the ‘Dies irae’ combines with fragments of the Paganini theme.