Symphony No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)
The Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op 13 is a symphony of Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff.
- 3.1 The premiere and its consequences
- 3.2 Current situation
Origin and Classification
" Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord " ( Rom. 12:8 EU) is the Biblical epigram Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote about his first great work, and Leo Tolstoy ( 1828-1910 ) novel "Anna Karenina " initiates. Since January 1895, the young Rachmaninov had working on the design for his first symphony and was already early 1896 as far as to make the fine cuts. The work is dedicated " A. L., " probably a gypsy girl named Anna Lodizhenskaja ( 's interesting the parallels between Tolstoy's book title, the initials" AL " and the biblical title). Alexander Glazunov had agreed to conduct in St. Petersburg premiere of the work, in the Rachmaninov had everything plugged into expectations and work: his first symphony in D minor, Op 13 could be used as the last work of young creative period Sergei Rachmaninov apply.
Construction
Occupation
Three flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B ♭, two bassoons, four horns in F, three trumpets in B ♭, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum ( the first, second and fourth movements ), Triangle ( in second and fourth movements ), snare drum, tambourine, tam- tam ( the fourth movement ), and string instruments.
Set names
- Grave - Allegro ma non troppo
- Allegro animato
- Larghetto
- Allegro con fuoco
Analysis
The four - especially by Dies Irae - a theme close location bracketed sentences form a roughly 45 - minute work in typical late Romantic orchestra (including tam- tam ), and not to be underestimated performance difficulty. The themes have their origin partly in the gypsy music; Rachmaninov's lyrical, spirited and passionate personal style, however, is unmistakable. " Grandiose " points or issues are primarily located in the two outer movements; the two middle movements refer in particular to Rachmaninov's evolving sense of counterpoint and polyphony, as well as his lyrical creativity out.
Effect
The premiere and its consequences
The premiere of the First Symphony on the evening of March 15, 1897 became a fiasco. It was narrated, Rachmaninov had run after the performance from the theater and walked aimlessly in the boulevards and down. The critic César Cui, published on March 29, 1897 his scathing review of the concert: " ... If there was a concert hall in hell and was commissioned a composer to write a symphony about the plagues of Egypt, then this new work would be the order ideal correspond manner ... " ( he was referring to the on him acting as such accumulation of dissonances that is probably due more to the line Glazunov - Rachmaninoff's wife accused Glazunov later to have the world premiere directed drunk). The result was a deep depression and associated creative crisis, the Rachmaninoff moved to three years solely to act as a pianist and to refrain from any compositional work. Hints of the Dies irae motif often used by Rachmaninov, but above all hints in the form of the first four tones (with appropriate intervals ) are included in Opus 13. The handle to the Dies irae motif originated here probably more youthful (or, if he was inwardly matured already so far [ from today's perspective ] " romantic " ) fascination with the subject of death and less deep depression as it may in later Dies irae imitations of the case was. The disaster of the premiere, the first symphony describes a kind of turning point in Rachmaninov ( mind ) life, but it is regarded as one of the possible causes of his later, form life-long melancholy.
Current situation
The work is still relatively unknown, since it only in 1945 under Alexander Gauk came to reissue ( Rachmaninov had banned after the first premiere any performances, the score was reconstructed on the basis of its transcription for piano four hands and individual vocal excerpts). Cui's allegation regarding the " dissonance " is unjustified, as evidenced, for example, the recordings of Vladimir Ashkenazy ( Decca ) or Mariss Jansons (EMI). Compared with the resulting much later second symphony you realize the First her youthful character clearly: while the Second their wide-spanned phrasing, long melodies, the skillful interweaving of individual sections and their polyphony is known for, does the first due to their episodic occurring topics inserts rather as the early work of a talented, but still maturing artist and is therefore also known as "Youth Symphony". Although the first range of artistic maturity and compositional skill to the Second not match, but does have its charms and should appeal after repeated listening, especially the lovers of the " bombastic " and rhythmically rousing Rachmaninoff.