The 1887 painting, Die Heimkehr (“The Homecoming” or “The Return”), by Swiss Symbolist Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901), shows a solitary figure seated with his back to a square reflecting pool. His attention is focused on a shadowy house with a single lit window. The late autumnal landscape suggests the falling veil of mortality, greeted with a blend of quiet anxiety, detachment, and inevitability.
It was this painting which inspired Sergei Rachmaninov to write the haunting Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10, part of a set of thirteen solo piano works composed in 1910. Two years earlier, another work by Böcklin formed the basis of Rachmaninov’s tone poem, Isle of the Dead.
Following the Russian Revolution, Rachmaninov fled his homeland, settled with his family in New York in 1918, and remained an exile for the rest of his life. Perhaps the composer, once described by Stravinsky as “six foot six of Russian gloom,” longed for a homecoming which remained impossible. Regardless, according to pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch, the B minor, op. 32 held special significance for Rachmaninov, and remained his personal favorite among his preludes.
Hovering with a sense of melancholy stasis, the Prelude in B minor unfolds with the dotted rhythm of a siciliano. A throbbing emotional eruption in the middle section falls back, and the final measures fail to reach a definitive resolution.
This performance features Valentina Lisitsa, a Ukrainian-born pianist who has been hailed as the “first YouTube star of classical music.”
Recordings
- Rachmaninov: Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10, Valentina Lisitsa Amazon
Featured Image: “The Homecoming” (1887), Arnold Böcklin
Indeed, a haunting piece and so beautifully played. Böcklin‘s moody painting “The Return” is a wonderful accompaniment to the music. Call me crazy, but the notes at the very end of the piece reminded me of the opening notes of an old song my grandmother used to sing called: “Put Your Arms Around Me Honey (Hold Me Tight).” On still another note, shame on you, Igor.