Related:
- Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Maksim Mrvica
- Rimsky-Korsakov - Tale Of Tsar Saltan: Flight Of The Bumblebee
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in A minor, Op. 43 (Russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, Rapsodiya na temu Paganini) is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is written for solo piano and symphony orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto. The work was written at Villa Senar, according to the score, from July 3 to August 18, 1934. Rachmaninoff himself, a noted interpreter of his own works, played the solo piano part at the piece's premiere at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 7, 1934 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Rachmaninoff, Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchstra made the first recording, on December 24, 1934, at RCA Victor's Trinity Church Studio in Camden, New Jersey.
Structure
The piece is a set of 24 variations on the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini's Caprices for solo violin, which has inspired works by several composers. The whole composition would take approximately 25 minutes to perform. All variations are in A minor except where noted.
Introduction: Allegro vivace / Variation I (Precedente) / Tema: L'istesso tempo / Variation 2: L'istesso tempo / Variation 3: L'istesso tempo / Variation 4: Più vivo / Variation 5: Tempo Precedente / Variation 6: L'istesso tempo / Variation 7: Meno mosso, a tempo moderato / Variation 8: Tempo I / Variation 9: L'istesso tempo / Variation 10: L'istesso tempo / Variation 11: Moderato / Variation 12: Tempo di minuetto (D minor) / Variation 13: Allegro (D minor) / Variation 14: L'istesso tempo (F major) / Variation 15: Più vivo scherzando (F major) / Variation 16: Allegretto (B flat minor) / Variation 17: (Allegretto) (B flat minor) / Variation 18: Andante cantabile (D flat major) / Variation 19: A tempo vivace / Variation 20: Un poco più vivo / Variation 21: Un poco più vivo / Variation 22: Marziale. Un poco più vivo (Alla breve) / Variation 23: L'istesso tempo / Variation 24: A tempo un poco meno mosso
Although Rachmaninoff's work is performed in one stretch without breaks, it can be divided into three sections, corresponding to the three movements of a concerto: up to variation 11 corresponds to the first movement, variations 12 to 18 are the equivalent of a slow movement, and the remaining variations make a finale.
Cultural references
In the film Somewhere in Time, the theme music that runs throughout the film is the eighteenth variation.
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