Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Variations for Piano: Concerning the Question of Interpreting the Genre
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Abstract
The author examines three cycles of variations by Sergei Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme by Chopin, opus 22,
Variations on a Theme of Corelli, opus 42 and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini opus 43, composed during various
stages of the composer’s musical evolution. The transformations of the composer’s world-perception, the evolution
of his musical thinking and style are disclosed in his choice of the themes for his variations, the direction of the
dramaturgical development and the semantic results, his interpretation of the genre and form of variations.
Emphasis is made on the close connection with romantic variations in the cycle on the theme of Chopin, the role
of neoclassical trends in the composer’s late style and their reflection in his late cycles of variations. Most notably, the
author discusses the movement “from darkness to light,” the comparison between the earliest cycle of variations with
Schumann’s “Symphonic Etudes,” the immersion into the world of reflections and reminiscences in the coda of opus
42 and the triumph of the fatal forces – demonstrated by the Dies irae absorbing the main theme, – in the coda of the
Rhapsody.
A study is made of the principles of compositional organization as a reflection of dramaturgical processes. Reasons
are demonstrated for the insufficient artistic integrity of the first composition, and accentuation is made of the polygenre
and poly-functional structure of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
The analyzed oeuvres are examined in the context of Rachmaninoff’s entire musical output. Parallels are brought
with other genres (the short piano pieces, the symphonies, etc.).
Keywords: Sergei Rachmaninoff, the cycle of variations, musical dramaturgy, genre structure, principles of
variational development.
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References
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