MSO Program Notes: Ravishing Rachmaninoff

Notes by Roger Ruggeri © 2009

Sergei Rachmaninov
b. April 1, 1873; Onega, Novgorod
d. March 28, 1943; Beverly Hills, CA

Concerto No. 3 in D minor, for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 30

Written in Ivanovka during the summer of 1909, Rachmaninov performed as soloist for the premiere of this work with the New York Symphony Society and Walter Damrosch on November 28, 1909. In addition to the solo piano, this forty-three-minute concerto employs pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, two percussionists (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum), timpani and strings. Most recently, pianist Adam Golka guest conductor Migel Harth-Bedoya performed this work at concerts in January of 2007.

Following the scathing reviews which greeted the premiere of his First Symphony in 1897, Rachmaninov was unable to return to composition for a number of years. The extraordinarily talented pianist/composer finally came out of his depression in 1901 with the composition of a Second Piano Concerto. Assured that his muse had returned, he threw himself wholeheartedly into a tripartite career of composer, pianist and conductor. Between 1904 and 1906, Rachmaninov served as the principal conductor of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater; he then decided that this post took too much time and went to Dresden, where he concentrated on composition and practice.

In 1909, Rachmaninov undertook his first of several tours of the United States. For the occasion, he wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3, completing it just in time for his first performance of the work with the New York Symphony Society under the direction of Walter Damrosch on November 28, 1909. Two months later, Rachmaninov had another opportunity to perform the concerto with the same organization, this time under the baton of Gustav Mahler. Rachmaninov recalled: "At that time Mahler was the only conductor whom I considered worthy to be classed with Nikisch. He touched my composer’s heart straight-away by devoting himself to my Concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practiced to the point of perfection, although he had already gone through another long rehearsal. According to Mahler, every detail of the score was important--an attitude which is unfortunately rare among conductors."

Cast in the traditional concerto format, this essentially rhapsodic work is unified by such devices as having the opening theme of Slavic melancholy return in various guises within each of the three movements.

I. Allegro ma non tanto, D minor, 4/4. A two-measure orchestral introduction establishes a touchstone rhythm before the soloist enters with a simple Slavic tune which serves as the first theme. An air of muted mystery yields to a foreshadowing of the second theme in the horns and trumpets. After a brief cadenza, the second theme is exposed in a dialogue between piano and orchestra. A rather complex development leads to an accompanied cadenza; one of two cadenzas provided by the composer. The movement ends as the shroud of mystery closes over the music once more.

II. Intermezzo: Adagio, 3/4. Strings begin by suggesting the main theme of the movement, first presented in its entirety by the solo oboe. This beautiful melody of free tonality has been characterized as "tender and melancholy, yet not tearful." After several variants by soloist and orchestra, the clarinet and bassoons begin a contrasting idea, accompanied by pizzicato strings. A gentle reminiscence of the opening theme of the concerto is suddenly interrupted by the piano’s impatient dash for the Finale.

III. Finale: Alla breve, D minor. Continuing without pause, the Finale contains several themes derived from those of the first movement. The nervous vitality is momentarily interrupted by an intervening Lento, but the movement soon picks up again, charging on to its fiery conclusion.

Sergei Rachmaninov

Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Opus 27

Begun in October of 1906, this symphony was completed just in time for the composer to lead its first performance in St. Petersburg on January 26, 1908. This 46-minute score uses three flutes (third doubling piccolo), three oboes (third doubling English horn), three clarinets (third doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, three percussionists (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, glockenspiel) and strings. James Paul led the last series performances of this symphony at concerts in May of 2003.

The lush harmonies and Slavic expanses of Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2 belie the difficulties that preceded its creation. Composers are generally more relaxed upon writing a second symphony; having proven themselves capable of expression in symphonic form, they tend to give vent to more personal statements. Unfortunately, in Rachmaninov's case, his Symphony No. 1 was received so poorly that he went into a long period of darkest depression. His First Symphony was written during 1895, his twenty-third year. When this burst of youthful enthusiasm was premiered, Rachmaninov recalled: "Sometimes I stuck my fingers in my ears to prevent myself from hearing my own music, the discords of which absolutely tortured me. Only one thought hammered in my brain--'How is it possible? What is the cause of it?'—I had thought that I knew exactly where I stood. All my hopes, all belief in myself, had been destroyed." Among the comments of the older Russian composers who heard the performance, that of Cesar Cui is particularly memorable: "If there was a Conservatory in Hell, Rachmaninov would gain the first prize for his symphony."

What Rachmaninov didn't seem to realize at this time is that the lines and sounds of an orchestral composition are always more clearly etched in the mind of the composer than they could ever be in actual performance. This shock, coupled with a less than first-rate performance and the comments of his elder colleagues, caused him to withdraw the symphony, give up hope of ever being a composer and led to thoughts of ending his painful existence. Fortunately there were three people who helped Rachmaninov through this bleak period of utter depression. The most famous of these was Count Leo Tolstoy, who spent three days lecturing the young musician about his basic philosophy of life. There was a physician, Dr. Dahl, who used hypnotic suggestion and psychological exercises to restore Rachmaninov's creative abilities. Finally, there was a young woman, Natalie Satin, whose ministrations were so effective that the gifted young man gave her a permanent position as Mrs. Rachmaninov.

He began to feel much better around the turn of the century; the composition of his Second Piano Concerto in 1900-1901 restored his confidence in his own creative abilities. Soon after marrying Mlle. Satin in 1902, Rachmaninov found himself in the middle of a whirl of performing and conducting. All this activity left little time for composition, so he decided to take a sabbatical in 1906. With his wife and baby daughter, he went to Dresden, where, during his two year stay, he composed a number of works including his Symphony No. 2 and the symphonic poem, Isle of the Dead. While still in Dresden, he got a lucrative offer for a series of concerts in America, where he was invited to perform both as a pianist and a conductor. Before leaving, Rachmaninov returned to Moscow, where he conducted the premiere of his Second Symphony with the Russian Musical Society on February 15, 1909. This time the reception of a Rachmaninov symphony was enthusiastic; in addition to a tremendous response from the musicians and audience, the work was also awarded the Glinka Prize of 1,000 rubles.

When he came to America later that same year, Rachmaninov spent a great deal of time preparing his new symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Much of his efforts were spent in finding judicious cuts in the more rambling sections of the work; herin lies the seed of a controversy which still rages around this symphony. There are those who hotly insist that the intact original version is the only one which should be performed; yet, on the other hand, the composer himself felt the need to devote precious rehearsal time to "tightening up" the materials. Apart from the question of "cut or not to cut," this whole matter brings up an interesting point about exterior influences on Rachmaninov's composition. He obviously wanted to prove himself a worthy symphonist after the failure of his first symphony. With a more conservative view of symphonic form than Mahler had been using, Rachmaninov apparently wanted to show that he could write a symphony in the mold of Beethoven and Brahms. However, his basic expression was late-Romantic, with long, flowing melodies and complex harmonic structures. If this sort of expression is employed in a symphonic format that was geared for shorter and simpler materials, very extended development and transition sections result. Perhaps sensing that conventional formats did not effectively project his basic ideas, Rachmaninov streamlined the symphony to more concise dimensions.

In 1939, Arthur Loesser made the following observations about this symphony: "Rachmaninoff is a skillful cultivator of the old traditions; he knows how to handle deftly all the vessels that the older masters have filled so well and so often. He gives us logical developments, well-timed recapitulations, artful fugues, and ingenious variations. But with all this formalism there is a strong personal element in his compositions. His music gives off a vapor of drugged sweetness, of fatalistic melancholy. It is only fair to say that he sometimes rouses himself from this mood to engage in more brisk muscular activity, as in the scherzo and last movement of this Symphony."