Franz lizst pronounce series#

Through the newly inserted sections Rachmaninov also reinforces the melodic links between the Sonata’s movements. The opposite argument could be made, saying the original version is that much richer due to the way Rachmaninov explores adjacent ground rather than sticking to a single path.) (Putting directionality above expansiveness is of course completely a matter of taste. The revised version seems to me much more directional and single-minded, and the resulting structure more organic and easier to follow. These might contain some really effective and highly pianistic music, and yet on balance I feel they detract rather than add to the Sonata’s unity. They often interrupt whatever line Rachmaninov was following at that time, and embark on a new micro-journey of their own. Looking at the sections which were removed, I think we can find a common thread-they are all somewhat meandering, for want of a better word. I fully agree with this on paper, but my feeling is that Rachmaninov was once again concerned with how the Sonata would be perceived by the listeners-though in a good way this time. As they point out, many of the sections Rachmaninov removed contained important thematic links and development, and at times whole chunks of the sonata form have been done away with, such as the recapitulation of the main subject in the finale. Several analyses of the two versions agree that the Sonata’s form and structure are better served by the first, 1913, version.

Besides reworking much of the piano writing (always with the aim of achieving a leaner, more transparent texture), Rachmaninov inserts a new section almost every time he makes a cut, and this new material alters the face of the Sonata to such an extent as to make the revised version a separate, independent work. clean jumps from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ in the score, the revised version of 1931 goes far beyond that. Whereas the cuts mentioned above are just that-cuts, i.e. However, I hope that you will play all of them and that you will not cough.”Įnough said… The Second Sonata, however, is a somewhat different case. My record was in New York, where I played 18. Whenever the coughing increased I would skip the next variation… In one concert… the coughing was such that I played only 10 variations (out of 20). I was guided by the coughing of the audience.

Franz lizst pronounce series#

For instance, in 1931 he wrote to his friend and fellow composer Nikolai Medtner describing a series of performances of another work of his, the Variations on a Theme of Corelli: Yet that issue becomes somewhat problematic (if not to say painful), once we consider that the reason behind those cuts might well have had to do with Rachmaninov’s lack of self-confidence and his doubt about audiences’ reception, rather than with any desire to improve the works musically. The issue of cuts and shortenings in Rachmaninov’s works is a well-known one, as he himself authorized cuts in several works, including the Second Symphony and the Third Concerto (his own recording of it uses the shortened version). (He was referring to Chopin’s second sonata, which was a staple piece in his repertoire, and which he had recorded in 1930). Chopin’s Sonata lasts 19 minutes, and all has been said.

He seems to have felt the textures of the original version too dense, and the overall plot line not taut enough, saying to a friend that year: so many voices are moving simultaneously and is too long.

However, I think we shouldn’t make too much out of this proximity, as the sound image of bells is so inherent to Rachmaninov’s musical language as to be found all through his works: as early as in his first Piano Concerto (Op.1) and as late as in his last work, the Symphonic Dances.Įighteen years later, in 1931, Rachmaninov revised the Sonata extensively, cutting away more than a fifth of its size, and rewriting significant parts of the remaining material. Bell-like sonorities can also be frequently encountered in our Sonata-from the silvery tinkling bells strewn through the lyrical sections to the great tumult of bells large and small at the climaxes of the first and second movements. Rachmaninov composed his Second Piano Sonata in 1913, the same year which saw him write the choral symphony The Bells.