Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18, is a piano concerto written in 1901 in the key of C minor. It is considered one of the greatest piano concertos of all time, and serves as a definitive work of the late Romantic Era.

Origins

Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto heralded the official recovery from his years living under depression and writer's block.

Concerto

It is written in a traditional concerto form:

1. Moderato
2. Adagio sostenuto
3. Allegro scherzando

The second piano concerto is known for its difficulty and the size of the hands required to play this piece. At some parts of the concerto, the pianist is required to stretch one hand 9 whole steps (a very large interval to reach on the piano).

Moderato

Before the introduction of the main theme, the concerto begins with a series of slow steeple bell-like tollings, a crescendoing eight bar subtle chord progression steadily rocking against a solo ultra-low F. This unique introduction immediately establishes to the listener the underlying spirit of Russian Nationalism definitive of musical styles during the Late Romantic Era. The chords continue to grow with tension until eventually bursting into a torrent of rhythmic piano accompaniment to the main theme. One of the unusual features of Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto is the notable lack of focus on the soloist during the opening movement. After the bell tollings, the main theme is introduced by the strings who continue to carry the melody until the piano breaks off into its first solo statement.

Adagio sostenuto

The opening section of the second movement contrasts sharply with the whirlwind ending of the previous movement. In what perhaps may be considered an allusion to the beginning of the first movement, a series of slow crescendoing chords are again introduced by the piano building with tension until this time instead relaxing after climax into a slow to the flurry is a slow adagio, while the last movement is a lighter, however quite difficult (yet still romantic) scherzo-like piece.

Allegro scherzando

The third movement features the recurrence of the theme first heard in the first movement and ends with a typical Rachmaninoff-esque loud rhythmic ending.

This concerto is now one of the most popular ones, performed worldwide. Multiple recordings exist; Sviatoslav Richter, Alexis Weissenberg, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lang Lang and many other pianists.

In Pop Culture

The "adagio sostenuto" is the basis for the melodic theme of the 1976 pop/rock hit All By Myself by Eric Carmen (1976).

It has also made it into several movies, including: The Seven Year Itch, where Marilyn Monroe says: "Every time I hear it I go to pieces!"; Brief Encounter; The World of Henry Orient; Rhapsody; Center Stage; and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

External links

• Rachmaninoff's Works for Piano and Orchestra An analysis of Rachmaninoff's Works for Piano and Orchestra including the Piano Concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody
• Geoff Kuenning article on the Concerto @ UCLA
• A breakdown of the work @ The Flying Inkpot.com