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Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, (Russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, 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 conducted by Nicolai Malko. The best-known variation in the piece is the 18th variation, frequently selected in isolation in classical music compilations.

D minor

A major

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.


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.[2]

Balletic interpretations[edit]

In 1939, Michel Fokine wrote to Rachmaninoff from Auckland, New Zealand, where he was touring, seeking the composer's approval to use Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for his ballet Paganini, which he had almost finished choreographing. Fokine wanted to make a minor change to the score, involving the reuse of 12 earlier measures as a more theatrically effective introduction to the 18th Variation, which he wanted to play in the key of A major, rather than D major. Rachmaninoff agreed to the extra measures, although he said A major would not work and asked that the 18th Variation be played in D major, to provide greater tension. He also wondered why Niccolò Paganini had been turned into a guitar player in Fokine's scenario, but did not object.[10] Paganini was premiered in 1939 by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London. The ballet was a success, which pleased Rachmaninoff, and he wrote his Symphonic Dances in 1940 with Fokine in mind. He played the piano version for Fokine, but both died before the idea got any further.[11]


The Rhapsody has also been used for ballets by Leonid Lavrovsky (Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow, 1960), Frederick Ashton (Royal Ballet, London, 1980),[12] and Ivo van Zwieten.[13]

(1953)

The Story of Three Loves

(1980 film)

Somewhere in Time

(1990 film)

Singapore Sling

(1991)

Dead Again

(1993 film)

Groundhog Day

(1998 film)

Ronin

The Byron Janis Story (2010 TV movie documentary)

(2010 TV show, Season 10 Episode 8)

The Walking Dead (TV series)

Nikolina and Tomislav (2013 short)

(2014 documentary)

Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory

(2015)

The Good Wife

The 18th variation, by far the most popular, has been used in various movie and TV show soundtracks to different degrees. This includes:


Winifred Atwell recording of the 18th variation as a theme from The Story of Three Loves reached No. 9 on the UK chart.[25]


The pop song "If I Had You" by The Korgis uses the melody fragment from the 18th variation.


The video game Gran Turismo 6 uses it as the intro theme.

List of variations on a theme by another composer

Bertensson, Sergei; (1956). Sergei Rachmaninoff – A Lifetime in Music. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21421-8 – via Internet Archive.

Leyda, Jay

Rimm, Robert (2002). . Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 1574670727. Retrieved 18 March 2013.

The Composer-Pianists: Hamelin and the Eight

(1998). The Concerto: A Listener's Guide. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-510330-4 – via Internet Archive.

Steinberg, Michael

An analysis of Rachmaninoff's works for piano and orchestra, including the Piano Concertos and the Paganini Rhapsody

Rachmaninoff's Works for Piano and Orchestra

which includes a link to a .ram (for the RealNetworks audio player) file discussing the piece

The BBC's Discovering Music

: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini