- Piano Concerto No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)
The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 by
Sergei Rachmaninoff (colloquially known as the "Rach 3") is famous for its technical and musical demands on the performer. It has the reputation of being one of the most difficult concertos in the standard piano repertoire.Form
Following the form of a standard
concerto , the piece is in three movements:#"Allegro ma non tanto" (D minor)
#:The first movement revolves around adiatonic melody that soon develops into complex pianistic figuration. It reaches a number of ferocious climaxes, especially in thecadenza . The first theme in its full form reappears just before the coda. Rachmaninoff wrote two versions of this cadenza: the dramatic and powerful original, commonly notated as the "ossia ", and a second one with a lighter,toccata -like style. In his recording of the concerto, the composer used the second cadenza.
#"Intermezzo: Adagio" (F sharp minor/D flat major)
#:The second movement is opened by the orchestra and it consists of a number of variations around a single lush, heavily romantic melody following one another without a rigid scheme. The melody soon transitions to a tonic major which is the second theme. After the first theme development and recapitulation of the second theme, the main melody from the first movement reappears, before the movement is "closed" by the orchestra in a manner similar to the introduction. Then the piano gets the last word in with a short "cadenza-esque" passage which transitions into the last movement without pause. Many melodic thoughts of this movement allude to Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto, third movement, noticeably the Russian-like, E-flat major melody.
#"Finale: Alla breve" (D minor → D major)
#:The third movement is quick and vigorous and contains variations on many of the themes that are used in the first movement, which unites the whole concerto cyclically. However, after the first and second themes it diverges from the regular sonata-allegro form. There is no conventional development; that segment is replaced by a lengthy digression using the major key of the third movement's first theme, which then leads to the two themes from the first movement. After the digression, the movement recapitulation returns to the original themes, building up to a toccata climax somewhat similar but lighter than the first movement "ossia" cadenza. The last movement is concluded with a triumphant and passionate second theme melody in D major. The piece ends with the same four-note rhythm – claimed by some to be the composer's musical signatureFact|date=November 2007 – as the composer's second concerto.The third movement follows the second . A typical performance of the concerto lasts about forty minutes.
History
Written in the peaceful setting of his family's country estate,
Ivanovka ,Fact|date=May 2008 Rachmaninoff completed the concerto onSeptember 23 ,1909 . Contemporary with this work are his First Piano Sonata and his tone poem "The Isle of the Dead".The concerto is respected, even feared,fact|date=August 2008 by most pianists.
Józef Hofmann , the pianist to whom the work is dedicated, never publicly performed it, saying that it "wasn't for" him. AndGary Graffman lamented he had not learned this concerto as a student, when he was "still too young to know fear". [David Dubal , The Art of the Piano, Third Edition (2004), Amadeus Press]Due to time constraints, Rachmaninoff could not practice the piece while in Russia. Instead, he practiced it on a silent keyboard that he took with him on the ship to the US.
The concerto was first performed on
November 28 ,1909 by Rachmaninoff himself with the now-defunctNew York Symphony Society withWalter Damrosch conducting , at theNew Theater (later rechristened theCentury Theater ). It received a second performance underGustav Mahler several weeks later, an 'experience Rachmaninoff treasured' [http://www.orsymphony.org/concerts/0405/programnotes/classical2.html] . The manuscript was first published in 1910 byGutheil . The first performance inEngland was given by G T Ball (later SirGeorge Thalben-Ball ) at theRoyal College of Music inLondon .Orchestration
The concerto is scored for 2
flute s, 2oboe s, 2clarinet s, 2bassoon s, 4 horns, 2trumpet s, 3trombone s,tuba ,timpani ,bass drum ,snare drum ,cymbal s and strings.Performances and recordings
The first recording of the concerto was made by
Vladimir Horowitz accompanied by theLondon Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates for theHMV label in 1930. This has been listed by English critic and writer Norman Lebrecht as one of the 100 greatest recordings ever made. [Norman Lebrecht , The Life and Death of Classical Music, Anchor Books, 2007]Many other famous pianists have recorded the concerto, including
Rachmaninoff himself.One of the most famous recordings of the piece, known for its speed, is that of
Martha Argerich performing live with theDeutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted byRiccardo Chailly .Another highly renowned performance of this work is that of the pianist
Vladimir Ashkenazy , withBernard Haitink conducting theConcertgebouw Orchestra .According to some critics, [
Harold C. Schonberg , Horowitz-His Life and Music, Simon & Schuster, 1992] [David Dubal , The Art of the Piano, Third Edition (2004), Amadeus Press] the most technically astounding Rach 3 ever registered is a live performance by Vladimir Horowitz accompanied by theNew York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra underSir John Barbirolli , available on an off the air recording made in 1941. It has been reported that after Horowitz performed it for Rachmaninoff, the composer was so impressed that he never played the work again.Links
References
Further reading
*W.R. Anderson: Rachmaninov and his pianoforte concertos. A brief sketch of the composer and his style. London 1947
*Citation
last = Yasser
first = Joseph
title = The Opening Theme of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto and its Liturgical Prototype
journal = Musical Quarterly
volume = LV
pages = 313-328
year = 1969External links
*IMSLP2|id=Piano_Concerto_No.3%2C_Op.30_%28Rachmaninoff%2C_Sergei%29|cname=Piano Concerto No. 3
* [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/8618/TheRach3Page.html The Rach 3 recordings page]
* [http://classyclassical.blogspot.com/2005/09/rachmaninoffs-works-for-piano-and.html 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
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