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Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
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13/10/2007
Programme notes on Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances
Rachmaninov (1873 – 1943)
Symphonic Dances (1940)
Non Allegro
Andante con moto – Tempo di Valse
Lento Assai – Allegro vivace
Rachmaninov’s most active years a composer were the two decades preceding the Russian Revolution. After leaving his native country for the nomadic life of a celebrity pianist – he was one of the greatest pianists of his time – he composed less and less and his critics suggested that he had written himself out. But the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and the Third Symphony, both written in the 1930s, gave the lie to that, and in 1940 he produced what he called his last spark, the Symphonic Dances. It was his last work, for he died in Beverly Hills, California, less than three years later.
The dances were composed for the Philadelphia Orchestra, which gave the first performance on 4 January 1941 under Eugene Ormandy. Symphonic is the operative word in the title, since the three movements are more symphonic than dance-like in length and general character. Rachmaninov originally gave them descriptive titles:
Midday
Twilight
Midnight
Although he eventually discarded them, they fit the music perfectly. The scoring is for double woodwind [plus piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinert, alto saxophone and contra bassoon], brass, percussion, harp, piano and strings.
Each movement covers a wide range of tempi. The first is fundamentally a fast movement, notwithstanding the composer’s eccentric Non Allegro marking, suggesting that he was in two minds about it. The main theme is a sequence of descending phrases over a chugging accompaniment of the kind Stravinsky often employed. A slower section for woodwind and saxophone leads to a string tune with a strong, Russian flavour showing that the ties of blood were still strong in Rachmaninov, though there is none of the nostalgic indulgence that makes some of his earlier works beloved or detested according to the listener’s taste. The tempo quickens and the main theme returns in a more emphatic manner. The string tune re-appears briefly, and the movement ends quietly.
The second movement is Rachmaninov’s Valse Triste. Its tune is launched [after a brief introduction] by the cor anglais, taken up then by the strings and later decorated with woodwind arabesques. There is a more animated middle section, after which the waltz resumes with fuller texture.
A short, slow introduction leads into the fast main sections of the Midnight finale, in which Rachmaninov’s scoring and his use, not for the first time, of the Dies Irae [Day of wrath] plainchant suggest the demonic associations of the witching hour. The music slows for a recollection of the Valse Triste atmosphere, but the hobgoblins return and the Dies Irae forcefully re-asserts itself several times amid the syncopated revels towards the end.
Author : Simon Lindley
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