The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, (, Rapsodiya na temu Paganini) is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto, all in a single movement. Rachmaninoff wrote the work at his summer home, the Villa Senar in Switzerland, according to the score, from 3 July to 18 August 1934. Rachmaninoff himself, a noted performer of his own works, played the piano part at the piece's premiere on 7 November 1934, at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
Rachmaninoff, Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra made the first recording, on 24 December 1934, at RCA Victor's Trinity Church Studio in Camden, New Jersey. The English premiere on 7 March 1935 at Manchester Free Trade Hall also featured Rachmaninoff with The Hallé under Nikolai Malko. The best-known variation in the piece is the 18th variation, frequently selected in isolation in classical music compilations.
Instrumentation
The piece is scored for piano and orchestra:
Woodwinds: 2 flutes piccolo 2 oboes cor anglais 2 clarinets in B 2 bassoons Brass: 4 horns in F 2 trumpets in C 3 trombones tuba Percussion: timpani snare drum triangle cymbals bass drum glockenspiel Strings: 1st violins 2nd violins violas cellos double basses concert harp
Structure
The piece is a set of 24 variations on the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini's Caprices for solo violin, which has inspired works by several composers. The whole composition takes about 22–24 minutes to perform. All variations are in A minor except where noted. Section 1: Introduction: Allegro vivace Variation 1: (Precedente) Theme: L'istesso tempo Variation 2: L'istesso tempo Variation 3: L'istesso tempo Variation 4: Più vivo Variation 5: Tempo precedente Variation 6: L'istesso tempo Variation 7: Meno mosso, a tempo moderato Variation 8: Tempo I Variation 9: L'istesso tempo Variation 10: L'istesso tempo Section 2: Variation 11: Moderato Variation 12: Tempo di minuetto (D minor) Variation 13: Allegro (D minor) Variation 14: L'istesso tempo (F major) Variation 15: Più vivo scherzando (F major) Variation 16: Allegretto (B minor) Variation 17: (Allegretto) (B minor) Variation 18: Andante cantabile (D major) Section 3: Variation 19: A tempo vivace Variation 20: Un poco più vivo Variation 21: Un poco più vivo Variation 22: Marziale. Un poco più vivo (Alla breve) Variation 23: L'istesso tempo Variation 24: A tempo un poco meno mosso (A minor → A major)
Although Rachmaninoff's work is performed in one stretch without breaks, it can be divided into three sections, as shown above. These correspond to the three movements of a concerto: up to variation 10 corresponds to the first movement, variations 11 to 18 are the equivalent of a slow movement, and the remaining variations make a finale.
Analysis
After a brief introduction, the first variation is played before the theme. Paganini's theme is stated on strings with the piano picking out salient notes, after the first variation. Rachmaninoff likely got the idea of having a variation before the theme from the finale of Beethoven's Eroica symphony. Variations II to VI recombine elements of the theme. The pauses and rhetorical flourishes for the piano in variation VI herald a change of tempo and tone. The piano next gravely intones the Dies Irae (of which, to some degree, the Paganini theme is an inversion), the "day of wrath" plainchant from the medieval Mass of the Dead, while the orchestra accompanies with a slower version of the opening motif of the Paganini theme. The piece is one of several by Rachmaninoff to quote the Dies Irae plainchant melody.
The slow 18th variation is by far the best known, and it is often included on classical music compilations without the rest of the work. It is based on an inversion of the melody of Paganini's theme. In other words, the A minor Paganini theme is literally played "upside down" in D major, with a few other changes. Rachmaninoff himself recognized the appeal of this variation, saying "This one is for my agent."