Rachmaninoff - III. Romance, Suite no. 2 for two pianos

Sergej Vasiljevitsj Rachmaninoff, born on April 1st 1873 in Novgorod, was the last composer of the era of Russian Romanticism and one of the best pianists of his time. He was best known for his second and third piano concerto. Unforunately, he received a lot of negative criticism throughout his life because his music was considered too traditional. A lot of connoisseurs nowadays recognise his fabulous harmonic twists and the incredible depth in his music.
Rachmaninoff suffered from severe depressions. This influenced his compositions although his pieces are not sad or depressing per se. I would rather say they are 'heavy' but nevertheless very accessible.
Trademark: depth, sensitivity, majesty, humanity, minor chords, seriousness

How did he know?
Although I love Baroque and classicism, I must call myself a true Romanticist. I think Rachmaninoff is the composer I can completely relate to. You can hear in his music that he cleary understood human nature: moments of agony, moments of euphoria. He was gifted. He could translate every emotion into his music... If you take your time to discover Rachmaninoff's music, and I hope you will, you'll hear your life story in one of his masterpieces and then you will ask yourself: "How did he know?" There will be moments that you won't be able to listen to his compositions because it's too confronting. Moments when you can't handle floating to heaven, then being thrown on earth again. Rachmaninoff moves you and you can't help it.

Suite no. 2
The Suite no. 2 for two pianos was written in 1901, at the same time as the 2nd Piano concerto. It consists of four movements:
I. Introduction (Alla marcia)
II. Valse (Presto)
III. Romance (Andantino)
IV. Tarantelle (Presto)

I have strong memories when I listen to the Romance. It reminds me of my happy childhood and the great afternoons I spent at my grandparents'. I was about six years old and my parents used to play this together on the two grand pianos at my grandparents' house. It was my custom to lie down on the white woollen carpet under the Grotrian-Steinweg. The bass notes on the Bösendorfer sounded incredible. I was in my own little world and I thought this piece was the most beautiful thing ever.
My opinion about it hasn't changed. Rachmaninoff's Romance is still number one, but since I know a lot more music now it has to share this place with other masterpieces from other composers.

Romance
Romance. Love. We hear different 'chapters' of a love story: delicacy, tenderness or strong passion.
We hear Rachmaninoff's excellent pianistic qualities in this composition. He clearly knew the capacity of the instrument and how to get the most out of it.

The melodical line is quite simple but it sounds so beautiful combined with the harmonies.
The first piano passes the melody to the second piano, the latter gives it back. The constant interaction between the two instruments makes me think of a conversation. One asks, the other one answers. This is not a conversation with odd silences that occur when somebody doesn't know what to say. The conversational partners are familiar with each other.
The Romance does not show us childish, superficial affection. No, it's about deep, sincere, mature love that surely will last some time.

I think you'll understand my choice of words... I listened to the Romance while writing this blogpost.


If you like this, you'll probably like Saint-Seäns - The Swan , Rachmaninoff - 2nd piano concerto 2nd mvt. 

(Picture of the composer, source: Wikipedia)



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Feel free to comment and to correct my grammar mistakes, I'd appreciate it. Thanks for reading!

Schumann - Fantasie-Stücke Op. 73

Robert Schumann was a German composer of the Romantic period. He was born on June 18th 1810, the fifth son of a bookseller and publisher. Schumann developed a great interest in literature. This passion would inspire him for a lot of his compositions. Although his childhood and the first years of his marriage with his wife Clara were happy, Schumann's life ended in a miserable way, suffering from a depression and hallucinations that caused him to go to the lunatic asylum where he remained until his unfortunate death.

Trademark: lively, lyrical melodies, elegant harmonies, always with serenity.

Fantasie-Stücke Op. 73, 1-3 for clarinet 

The Fantasie-Stücke are originally written for clarinet, but the clarinet part can also be played on violin or cello. There are a lot of resemblances with parts in Schumann's piano and cello concerto.

This series of pieces consists of three parts. Schumann required his music to be played with strong emotional involvement, very typical for the Romantic period.

Let's take a closer look at the movements.

I. Zart und mit Ausdrück (Tender, and with expression)

The first measures take us right into a 'conversation' between the piano and the clarinet.

There are a lot of crescendo-decrescendos in the sheet music. The melodical line sounds like a waterstreamlet, constantly moving. It's lively and yet a little timid. The clarinet asks, the piano answers in a lyrical way. The further the melody flows, the less hesitancy and indecisiveness. There is a general crescendo, then, suddenly, we hear the theme again with more confidence. Gradually, the conversation comes to an end, confirmed by a tender major chord on the piano.

II. Lebhaft, Leicht (Lively, light)

The clarinet and the piano keep interacting, but faster and more lighthearted than their 'conversation' in the previous movement. The middle parts sound childlike and innocent, without any fear or worries. The melody goes upwards, portraying the question of a curious child. We go back to the main theme which revives for a moment, then fades away to the end.

III. Rasch und mit Feuer (Quick, and with fire)

The third movement is dynamic and temperamentful without losing it's serenity. First measures are an 'attack' from the piano and the clarinet. The same scale is heard several times, but every time with a different approach, leading us to another viewpoint.

We perceive a new theme. It's mysterious and restless.

The reprise is tempestuous with much feeling, building up to a small climax, decreasing again and eventually followed by the resolute final chords.

Recommendations

Here are a few of my favourite performances on Youtube:

Cello: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWZmeJAE70Q

Clarinet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmd1zKHtGN0

But the absolute best performance of the Fantasie-stücke is on the album I mentioned in a previous article about Joey Roukens. Fragments can be heard on this link:

http://www.muziekweb.nl/Link/CJX8112

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Source of the picture: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R_Schumann_Bonngasse.jpg?uselang=nl#filehistory