Paganini Rhapsody - Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Rachmaninov, in the true spirit of his age, was a polyglot musician - master of the piano, the orchestra and composition. It is revealing that he always considered himself first and foremost a composer. Only at the age of forty-seven, in need of funds, did he travel to America to embark on a career as a solo pianist - an adventure ended only by his death in Hollywood shortly before his seventieth birthday. His music, particularly the works for piano and orchestra, has always been popular with audiences, yet it was harder for the musical establishment to accept. Vladimir Ashkenazy, a great interpreter of Rachmaninov's music, writing in the 1970s, explains this with insight. "It is not difficult to imagine a Teutonic music-teacher being rather embarrassed by the frankness and directness of Rachmaninov's music (without being able to help feeling superior to it at the same time) and quickly, probably unconsciously too, labelling it vulgar or overblown. His character having derived its qualities from centuries of practised restraint and reserve, he is likely to be an individual who would sooner accept something that is unsaid than said, let alone stated. Music taken this way can hardly be performed with great devotion. So Rachmaninov's work has frequently been treated offhand, almost like semi-popular music. Certainly if you don't see anything important in the music you play, it will sound so. Add to this the tremendous technical difficulties, which were next to nothing to Rachmaninov himself with his transcendental pianism and the picture is complete". With the skilled advocacy of performers like Ashkenazy we now accept Rachmaninov's work without inhibitions and with open hearts.

It is of great interest to read what Rachmaninov felt about his own compositions. "No conscious effort has been made to be original or Romantic or nationalistic or anything else. I write down on paper the music I hear within me as naturally as possible. I am a Russian composer and the land of my birth has influenced my temperament and outlook. My music is the product of my temperament and so it is Russian music; I never consciously attempted to write Russian music, or any other kind of music. What I try to do, when writing down my music, is to make it say simply and directly that which is in my heart when I am composing. If there is love or bitterness or sadness or religion, these moods become a part of my music and it becomes either beautiful or bitter or sad or religious".

The twenty-four Variations on a Theme of Paganini express the essence of Rachmaninov's music. If anyone can convince me that variation eighteen of this magical masterpiece is not one of the most beautiful passages in the Romantic repertoire, I will reach for my hat, knife and fork! These moments of repose, all the more telling amidst the virtuosity of most of the surrounding music, are breathtakingly emotional. Don't you just want to hear such wonderful notes again and again?

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