Rachmaninov

Rachmaninov’s Prelude in B Minor, Op. 32, No. 10: Longing for the Return

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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 …

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Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony: The Majesty of Melody

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Sergei Rachmaninov’s First Symphony was nearly his last. During the work’s disastrous premiere in Saint Petersburg on March 28, 1897, the 23-year-old composer hid in a backstage fire escape with his ears plugged as an under-rehearsed orchestra, led by an inebriated and disinterested Alexander Glazunov, desecrated the score. Catcalls erupted throughout the hall, and César Cui colorfully derided the new Symphony as music that would “delight the inhabitants of Hell.” The confidence-shattering …

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Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto: A Musical Affirmation

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For three years, following the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony, Sergei Rachmaninov was unable to compose. “I believed I had opened up entirely new paths,” Rachmaninov later recalled. At the work’s premiere in St. Petersburg on March 28, 1897, the 23-year-old composer hid in a backstage fire escape with his ears plugged as a possibly drunk Alexander Glazunov led the underrehearsed orchestra through a passionless reading. The audience reacted with catcalls, …

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Rachmaninov’s “Rejoice, O Virgin”: Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Tenebrae

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Rejoice, O Virgin (Ave Maria) forms the sixth movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 (also known as the “Vespers”). Scored for a cappella chorus, the All-Night Vigil was composed over the course of two weeks in January and February of 1915. It has been called “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church.” The monumental liturgical work, completed during the First World War, represents the culmination of a sacred musical tradition …

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Remembering Yuri Temirkanov

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Yuri Temirkanov, the renowned Russian conductor, passed away last Thursday, November 2, in St. Petersburg. He was 84. From the time of his appointment as artistic director in 1988, Temirkanov was credited with restoring the brilliance of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Between 2000 and 2006, he served as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Additional titles included principal guest conductor of …

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Rachmaninov’s “The Rock”: An Homage to the Romantic Tone Poem

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Sergei Rachmaninov was twenty years old when he composed the orchestral tone poem, The Rock, Op. 7 in the summer of 1893. It is music which looks back as much as forward. We hear Rachmaninov’s distinctive voice coming into focus. At the same time, this early work pays homage to an existing Russian Romantic tradition. The influence of Rimsky-Korsakov, to whom the piece was dedicated, Tchaikovsky, and Borodin is evident. At moments, The Rock develops with that …

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Sviatoslav Richter Plays Rachmaninov: Prelude in D Major, Op. 23, No. 4

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Sergei Rachmaninov’s Prelude in D Major, Op. 23, No. 4 (Andante cantabile) is a dreamy nocturne in triple meter. Its sensuous melody floats above continuous eighth note waves which rise and fall gently. Moving from intimacy to soaring passion, it takes us on a journey filled with revelatory harmonic turns. Rachmaninov’s Ten Preludes, Op. 23 were composed between 1901 and 1903. “How well he hears the silence,” observed the writer, Maxim Gorky, after …

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