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Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He is best known for his large scale works for orchestra, and for his piano concertos which are performed regularly throughout the world. Rachmaninoff wrote Piano Concerto No. 3 during a time he was feeling buoyed by professional success, and when he was about to embark on his first US performance tour. He has said it was his favorite of the three. It received a warm initial review but really became popular with audiences two decades after its premiere when legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz made it a performance priority. Enjoy listening to the thrilling performance by your Colorado Symphony and piano soloist Natasha Paremsky!
RESOURCES
Yunchan Lim's 2022 Cliburn competition final round performance with conductor Marin Alsop
5 minute performance scene from the 1996 movie 'Shine'
HIGHLIGHTS
Rachmaninoff composed Piano Concerto No. 3 in 1909 and premiered it himself in NYC later that same year. Piano teachers and students, shut your eyes for this next fact! He actually ran out of time to practice the piece at home before traveling to NYC for the performance, so he brought a fake keyboard and practiced on the way there. (He was 36 years old when all of this happened though, so he probably knew his scales by then.) Teachers/students you can open your eyes now! 😁
Piano Concerto No. 3 is in D minor, lasts for about 45 minutes and is in three sections called movements, like chapters of a book. It follows a typical concerto structure for these musical chapters, fast-slow-very fast. If it sounds like there are only two movements, or chapters, it’s because Rachmaninoff uses an excellent trick making the final note of the second movement the blast-off beginning of the third movement!
Pianists everywhere agree Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is one of the most monumental and difficult pieces to play. The orchestra accompaniment is also richly detailed and often takes a more central role, making this piece of music extra engaging to listeners and performers alike.
Rachmaninoff’s compositions have a cinematic sound to them, so it’s no surprise to find them used in films. For extra credit, binge watch these movies and listen for Rachmaninoff’s music: Brief Encounter, The Seven Year Itch, To the Wonder, Somewhere In Time, Groundhog Day, Shine, and Limitless. Piano Concerto No. 3 plays such a prominent role in the film Shine that it practically becomes a character itself!
Rachmaninoff’s score calls for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, and the usual string section of violins, violas, cellos, and basses.
Explore the music
Here is a map that can guide you through the concerto. Read it in advance or while you’re listening!
Movement 1: Allegro ma non tanto (in English: Quick, but not too much)
This music begins with a restless urgency in the orchestra while the solo piano plays a simple melody over the top. About a minute in, right about the time we are lulled into thinking this is all just a nice tune, the tempo picks up and the piano takes the restless role while the low strings play the melody. The music rides along like this, shifting roles through the orchestra, until about 3 minutes into it a lush interlude introduces new ideas on the horizon. This new material shows up about 30 seconds later in a dialogue between solo piano and groups of instruments within the orchestra. A beautiful intimate conversation begins between the piano and solo bassoon happens around the 4 minute mark which again blossoms into including more instrument groups. The restlessness begins to return and we get moving again just to fall into a slightly fancier statement of the opening material at around 7 minutes in. From here the attitude morphs and changes but the restless quality stays somewhat prominent as the music tries to figure out what it’s trying to say. An extended cadenza, or rhapsodized solo section, for piano alone begins at about 10 and a half minutes. This pure piano power chord festival lasts until the entrance of a solo flute, who passes the melody to the oboe, then clarinet, and finally to the horn before melting into another solo piano section at about the 14 minute mark. The entrance of the horns at 2 minutes later signals our return to the world of the orchestra and the final statement of the opening melody to take us out to the end of the movement.
Movement 2: Intermezzo - Adagio (in English: Interlude - Slowly)
This music sings as much as the first movement danced. We begin with solos in the woodwind instruments before the violins take the melody, twisting and pulling at it like warm taffy. At about 2 minutes into it the mighty and awesome viola section transitions the music back to the full orchestra led by the horns before the piano finally enters at about 40 seconds later, playing alone until the orchestra enters again. The tempo picks up and we are suddenly in a whirlwind torrent version of the same melodic material. Things calm again and at about the 5 minute mark we’re back at the calm of the opening. It doesn’t last long though! Another outburst reminds us that this story is not done. Many attitude changes later, at about 10 minutes into it we have the beginning of a series of chorale moments in the winds and brass, once again leaving the violas to transition into the full orchestra sound. This material sounds like it’s closing, but then becomes the very active and splashy sounding transition material that precedes the beginning of the Finale movement.
Movement 3: Finale – Alla breve (in English: Ending – on the half*)
*”on the half”? What does that even mean?? Well, it’s not a specialty coffee order! Basically it’s an indication the music will move at a brisk and flowing pace. (For a more detailed explanation, check out the Consider and Discuss section below!)
Energy energy energy! Playfulness and power are at the core of this movement. It’s an all out celebration for fifteen minutes that seems breathless even in the slower melodic moments. Listen especially to the way Rachmaninoff uses dynamics - the loudness and softness in music - to create drama and character. His music swells and slams and whispers its way through this movement with flair and confidence. It’s impossible not to get caught up in it!
Nerd Assignments
Consider:
Consider the title of the third movement – “alla breve”. This is actually an interesting piece of ‘inside baseball’ music lingo. Generally, when music is structured around a pattern of 4 pulses, a composer can notate in something called Common Time or in Cut Time. Common Time gets a repeating count of 4; one for each of those steady pulses so the 'heart' of the music 'beats' on each pulse. Cut Time [secret agent code name Alla Breve, which means “on the half” 😎] generally moves much more quickly through those 4 pulses; so much so that it sounds more like a repeating count of 2 beats – each on the first and third pulses. In this case Rachmaninoff wants the pianist and the orchestra to move very quickly, with a sound that practically levitates as it flies through the pulse pattern. When performers see an indication for “alla breve” they typically understand the tempo will be brisk and flowing.
Discuss:
How might the music feel or sound different if we were more aware of each pulse (1, 2, 3, 4) rather than every other? (1 3 1 3 ) Can you imagine it having just one beat for every 4 pulses? (1 1 ) How might that further change the way it feels or sounds?
Discover Your Musical Signature!
Did you know that some composers have signatures they like to use in their work, like painters? Some of them use the letters of their name that correspond to pitches in the musical alphabet to create a melodic signature. J.S. Bach and Dmitri Shostakovich famously used this technique, creating a signature on B flat-A-C-B (B-A-C-H) or D-E flat-C-B (D.-S-C-H), respectively. Rachmaninoff used the rhythm of his last name as his signature. Right at the end of Piano Concerto No. 3 is an example of his signature “LONG shortshort LONG” following the pace and accent of “RACH manin OFF”.
Try making a musical signature with your own name!
Let’s use composer Angélica Negrón as an example. Her name has 6 syllables, a pattern of shortshortshortshort shortLONG, and is weighted shortshortshortshort shortLONG.
To make your own musical signature, first say your name confidently a few times to hear it fresh. Note how many syllables there are, which of them seem longer or shorter, and which of them seem heavier or lighter in weight. If it helps, you can also write your name down, mark each syllable, underline the longer sounding ones, and then circle the heavier sounding ones. Now try clapping the rhythm of your name following the length and weight of the syllables. Some names can be exciting or firm: Yael. JOE! Others might be more florid: Xiomara, Jessica Marie. How does yours seem to sound? What instruments do you imagine playing your musical signature?
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