Variations on a Theme by Corelli, op.42
The Variations on a Theme by Corelli, op. 42 are a piano work by Sergei Rachmaninov composed in 1931 and published in 1932 .
As in the longer and more virtuoso Variations on a Theme by Chopin, op. 22 from 1903, the composer enriched the variation form by combining its course with the three-part sonata main movement and subsequent coda .
The composition, carried by a mood of farewell, stands out from the earlier set of variations with its dramaturgical arc of tension that holds the individual numbers together and the restrained sonority of the chords. Contrary to what the title suggests, the theme of the variations, his last major work for piano solo, does not come from Arcangelo Corelli , but was only used by him for his own composition. Rachmaninov had been made aware of the melody by Fritz Kreisler , to whom the composition is dedicated.
content
Like all important works by the composer, the cycle is in a minor key (D minor) and is comparatively short and concise with only 20 variations and coda and a playing time of around 20 minutes. The simple structure of the melody - a nine-time repetition of the first phrase with a five-note ambitus - opens up a number of possible variations that had been used by many other composers before Rachmaninoff.
The wistful theme is followed by three sections, of which the first with 13 variations is itself divided into three groups, each beginning with a slow movement and ending with a fast one. This is followed by an improvisational intermezzo, which marks the beginning of the slow middle section with Variations 14 and 15, which is immediately followed by the short finale, which is played at fast tempos throughout . The coda ( andante ) above organ point D leads back to the painful mood and the original timing of the variation theme.
Disregarding the interlude, the individual variations form a formally coherent, closed work, while showing a multitude of compositional details that document Rachmaninoff's art of small form, for example in the comparison of 3/4 and 2/4 time in the fifth, or in the Adagio misterioso the sixth variation. Pieces 11 to 13 in particular, as well as the intermezzo with its modulation in D flat major, offer an interesting insight into the harmonic richness of the composition.
Origin and background
The variation theme of his last important composition for solo piano is the melody of a well-known Portuguese-Spanish dance , which the namesake used in his Violin Sonata op.5 No. 12 in D minor, a very popular and influential variation work for violin and basso continuo with violinists , which in turn was edited and inspired numerous composers to further work. Corelli called them “La Folia” (Eng. “The mad ones”), a term that also refers to the corresponding sentence model of baroque music .
The simple melody of the old dance was also taken up and processed by many other composers. Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, used it in his peasant cantata , Luigi Cherubini in the opera Hotellerie portugaise and Franz Liszt in his virtuoso Spanish Rhapsody.
The composer and violinist Fritz Kreisler introduced the melody to Rachmaninov when they were working on violin sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven , Franz Schubert and Edvard Grieg and making recordings.
The first performance on October 12, 1931 in Montreal was as unsuccessful as other concerts of the season in the United States. In a letter to Nikolai Karlowitsch Medtner , Rachmaninoff wrote that only one out of fifteen performances was successful and that he was unable to interpret his own compositions, which he found boring. The audience, which still showed great interest in his second and third piano concertos, reacted negatively during the performance, so that he never played the complete series, but left out a number of variations.
Web links
- Variations on a Theme by Corelli, Op. 42 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sergei Rachmaninoff, Variations on a Theme by Corelli in D minor, Op. 42 . In: Harenberg piano music guide, 600 works from the baroque to the present . Meyers, Mannheim 2004, p. 659
- ↑ a b Ewald Reder: Sergej Rachmaninow. Life and Work (1873–1943) . 3. Edition. Triga, Gründau-Rothenbergen 2007, p. 453
- ^ Ewald Reder: Sergej Rachmaninow. Life and Work (1873–1943) . 3. Edition. Triga, Gründau-Rothenbergen 2007, p. 454
- ↑ Music in the past and present , violin music, Volume 13. Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1986, p. 1723
- ^ Ewald Reder: Sergej Rachmaninow. Life and Work (1873–1943) . 3. Edition. Triga, Gründau-Rothenbergen 2007, p. 457.