Serge Rachmaninoff
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for
Piano and Orchestra, Op. 43
Serge Rachmaninoff was born in Semyonovo,
Russia in 1873 and died in Beverly Hills, California in 1943. Composed
in 1934, this work was first performed the same year with the composer
as soloist and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
The score calls for solo piano, 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn,
2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani,
percussion, harp, and strings.
*****
Nicoḷ Paganini (1782-1840) radically
changed people’s expectations of what the violin could do and the music
that would be written for it. He was, simply, the best violinist anyone
had ever heard. He had assimilated virtually every known technique into
a unified virtuoso style, along with unprecedented speed, accuracy, and
perfect intonation. At age 16, he composed his 24 Caprices for unaccompanied
violin as showpieces for himself; since then, they have inspired such composers
as Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Rachmaninoff to compose variations on their
themes.
Paganini’s on-stage persona frequently
overwhelmed those who saw him play: his skeletal figure and demonic intensity
reminded people of a man possessed. His manner prompted rumors, believed
by many, that he had sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his prowess—and
perhaps for his lady-love, as well.
A silly notion, but one that gave Rachmaninoff
an idea that would make his variations unique. There would be two themes
in his work: Paganini’s and the Dies Irae, the call to judgment
from the Mass for the Dead. Rachmaninoff explained in a letter: “Why not
resurrect the legend about Paganini, who, for perfection in his art and
for a woman, sold his soul to an evil spirit? Paganini himself first appears
in the theme.
All the variations which have the Dies
Irae represent the evil spirit. The evil spirit appears for the first
time in Variation 7, where there is a dialog with Paganini about his own
theme and the one of the Dies Irae. Variations 8-10 are the development
of the evil spirit. Variation 11 is a turning point into the domain of
love. Variation 12, the minuet, portrays the first appearance of the woman.
Variation 13 is the first conversation between the woman and Paganini.
Variation 19 is Paganini's triumph, with his diabolical pizzicato.”
Rachmaninoff's own diabolical twists
include delaying the theme, heard in the violins, until one of the variations
has already been presented, and in using an inversion (upside-down form)
of Paganini’s theme as one of the tunes in the love episodes. In all,
a clever tribute to the great virtuoso and a bravura showpiece in its own
right.
- Mark Rohr
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