Serguéi Rajmaninov · Romanticism
1934
Piano and orchestra · Lucerna
Tonality
The minor, the tone of Capricho No. 24 of Paganini on which it is based. The famous variation 18 is in major re bemol.
From the atril
The Rapsodia on a theme of Paganini, composed in 1934 in its villa by Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, is one of the last works of Rajmaninov and one of the most popular. He himself premiered her as a solo player in Baltimore that same year, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Leopold Stokowski. It takes as its theme the famous Capricho No. 24 of Paganini, the same one that Liszt and Brahms had used.
There are 24 chained variations, which work as a three-part concert. Curiously, the work begins with a first variation before presenting the theme. The Dies irae Gregorian, who faces the subject of Paganini as an allusion to the legend of the violinist who had sold his soul to the devil. Variation 18 is the most famous: Rajmaninov inverts the theme of Paganini, that is, he touches it the other way around, changing the climbs by down, and gets one of the most romantic melodies ever written. He himself said, with irony, that that variation was for his agent. The end is brilliant and ends with a humorous wink.
What to hear
- The theme of Paganini and the Dies irae.
- The famous variation 18.
- The humorous wink of the end.
