Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony: Turns of Fate and Whims of Fashion

Main Article Content

Vera B. Val’kova

Abstract

The article examines the reception of Rachmaninoffʼs Third Symphony in the first decade of its concert life (1936–1947). Scattered testimonies published long ago, brought togetherand supplemented by new, previously unknown materials, add up to an indicative and deeply problematic story. The perception and comprehension of the Third Symphony passed through several stages at that time. 


The first of them is associated with the premiere performances of the symphony in the United States, after which a sharp discrepancy in the reaction of listeners and assessments in the press was revealed. Both the enthusiastic acceptance of the public and the cold reception from the critics were due to two different tendencies in the then prevailing “fashion”. The second stage in the reception of the Third Symphony was its enthusiastic reception in the USSR in 1943–47. The third stagewas a sharp condemnation of the symphony and all of Rachmaninoff's later work as a result of the“anti-formalist” Stalinist campaign of 1948, which created artificial obstacles for performing andstudying the work. Despite all the controversy, the further fate of the Third Symphony proves its high artistic merit. The history of the reception of Rachmaninoffʼs Third Symphony in the first decade of its concert life concentrated in itself very symptomatic collisions and breakdowns of judgments.


Keywords: Rachmaninov, Third Symphony, reception, fashion, performances and reviews in the USA, success and condemnation in the USSR.

Article Details

How to Cite
Val’kova В. Б. . (2021). Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony: Turns of Fate and Whims of Fashion. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 42(1), 28–37. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1239
Section
History and Theory of Music
Author Biography

Vera B. Val’kova, Russian Gnessins Academy of Music Moscow, Russia

Vera B. Val’kova, Dr.Sci. (Arts), Professor, Music History Department, Gnesins Russian Academy of Music, State Institute of Art Studies Leading Researcher