Sergej Rachmaninoff: Moments musicaux op.16 on CD

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In the traditional genres of the Classical-Romantic era the peak, in a certain sense, — the ultimate perspective of the composer — is the symphony; chamber and solo instrumental music (including piano music here) presents itself as an approach to the heights, as a sketch, a laboratory of thematicism, images and dramaturgy. The case of Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) is different: the pianoforte — the Universe of his art — exerts its influence on other musical genres (from chamber and vocal compositions to piano concertos and orchestral compositions).

With the exception of the Fourth Piano Concerto, conceived and, for the most part, composed in Russia, although completed already when he was living abroad, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (virtually his Fifth Piano Concerto) as well as his Variations on a Theme of Corelli and a few transcriptions, the rest of Rachmaninov's legacy of piano music pertains to the Russian period of his creative output. Duing the span of an incomplete thirty years (from the late 1880's to 1916) Rachmaninov had created piano concertos, two suites for two pianos, two piano sonatas and one Sonata for Cello and Piano, as well as cycles of piano miniatures. The latter works of Rachmaninov are divided into two categories: on one hand there are the "suite" cycles of pieces in different genres (for instance, the five Morceaux de Fantaisies, Op. 3); on the other hand there are the cycles of pieces in "single genre" — prelude, moments musi-caux and etudes-tableaux.

It is an interesting goal to compare the piano cycles of Rachmaninov with those of his contemporaries, both elder and younger ones. Anatoly Liadov (1855—1914), Alexander Scriabin (1872—1915) and Alexei Stanchinsky (1888—1914) tend more to adapt the model of the piano cycle of Chopin, Schumann, and to a certain extent Grieg (the last, tenth volume of his piano cycle "Lyrical Pieces", Op. 71, was written in 1901): they are pieces of short duration — recorded musical moments, weaved into a single narrative entity and acguiring a new guality in it. it is worthwhile to notice that in the case of Chopin (24 Preludes, Op. 28) andScriabin (24 Preludes, Op. 11), in many ways, the "unit of measurement" presents itself as pairs of preludes (in the major tonality as well as its relative minor). In the case of Sergei Rachmaninov, Claude Debussy (1862-1918) or Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951) each separate piece (whether it be a prelude, es-quise, etude, etude-tableau or conte) is, as a rule, more extended in duration and musical development and, in general, self-sufficient; as a result the large cycles of 24 preludes of either Rachmaninov and Debussy could be dived into sub-cycles. Prototypes of such pieces are the cycles of piano pieces of Franz Liszt, most notably, his Les annees de pelerinarge.

Six Moments Musicaux (Musical Moments), Op. 16 (1897) is Rachmaninov's only composition that is in a way reminiscent of the piano cycles of Chopin and Schumann. The Moments Musicaux are a sort of a novelette, consisting of six chapters (pieces), — or, to put it another way, of six sound images. At that the composition combines elements of variety and recapitulations.

On one hand, all the odd-numbered pieces are written in a slow tempo, whereas all the even-numbered pieces are written in a fast tempo. At the same time the cycle is permeated with through-developed intonational ideas.

One of these — the element of the nocturne — could be perceived in connection to the first and fifth pieces. Musical Moment No. l (Andantino, В flat minor) presents itself as an expressive "Russian nocturne"; the source of its development is located in the juxtaposition of the duple-metered melody and the triplet accompaniment. In this piece not only the overall Romantic roots of Rachmaninov's melodicism (as those of Chopin) could be intelligibly perceived, but also particularly the Russian roots (similar to those of Tchaikovsky and, in part, Liadov).

Reminiscences to Tchaikovsky's miniature compositions are brought about, as an example, by the recitative before the recapitulation, during which all outward motion ceases. Subsequently in time, a similar sound image, created already under the influence of Rachmaninov, could be found in the music of Medtner ("Conte" in В flat minor, opus 20, No. l). Musical Moment No. 5 (Adagio sostenuto, D flat major) also carries allusions to the nocturne; however, the essence of the sound image is different — it conveys a sense of dissolution in a serene night landscape and, at the same time, carries within itself a special type of harmony and a sense of unity between the human being and nature (an inspired plein air).

Another sound image, — namely, heroic fanfare motives, cutting through the "shroud" of figurations — determines the character of Musical Moments No. 4 (Presto, E minor) and No. 6 (Maestoso, С major). This image is consistent not only for this piano cycle, but also for Rachmaninov's music in general (starting with the famous Prelude in С sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2). The fact that two different modes are used (minor in Musical Moment No. 4 and major in Musical Moment No. 6) gives the highlighted sound image a contrasting meaning, consisting of two indissolubly united parts. Musical Moment No. 2 (Allegretto, E flat major) contains traces of the "Florestan themes" of Robert Schumann. Florestan is one of the poles of Schumann's impetuous fantasy, an embodiment of bold, limitless romantic impulses. Just as in many of Schumann's compositions (for example, in the beginning of the "Kreisleriana"), Rachmaninov's musical image at the time of the beginning of its physical sounding is, in a way, "taken by surprise" in development. Reminiscences to the German master are brought not only by the piece's general character, but by the piece's textural solutions.

Musical Moment No. 3 (Andante cantabile, В minor) presents itself as a dramaturgical peak of the cycle, being one of the first examples of Rachmaninov's dirge-like, meditative lyricism. The breadth of the piece's artistic image could be perceived in the juxtaposition of the actual pianistic and the hidden orchestral expressivity. The powerful tutti and the pathetic sounding recitatives, corresponding to either the cellos or the brass (similar moments could be found in the slow movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and the Finale of his Sixth Symphony) as well as pizzicatti of cellos and double-basses (a moving bass-line) — these are all elements of an assumed orchestration, which bestow a special tragic austerity to the piece.

Rachmaninov's Etudes-tableaux are in many ways the last great etudes in Romantic music. The final allocation of the Etudes according to the two volumes do not reflect entirely the composer's conception. The first volume (Op. 33) was completed in 1911, whereas the second volume (Op. 39) was finished in 1916. The first volume was planned to contain nine Etudes, but the first edition contained only Six: the manuscript scores of the Etudes in С minor and D minor (which have been presently numerated as opus 33, No. 3 and No. 4) have been discovered only after Rachmaninov's death. The manuscript of the first edition of the etude in A minor (currently — Op. 39 No. 6) has not been found up to now: the Etude was meant for the first volume, but was not included in it; it found its way into the second volume in a revised version. Presently the Etudes are published in the following manner: 8 Etudes are contained in Volume 1 (Op. 33) and 9 - in Volume 2 (Op. 39).

The Etudes-tableaux present themselves as a unique crossroad of traditions of the 19th and 20th centuries. With only a few exceptions (the "Russian" Etude in E flat minor, opus 39 No. 5, based on a broad apassionata theme, conveying a cello-like color and, to a certain degree, the Etudes in E flat major and in G minor, Op. 33, No. 6 and No. 7), the Etude-tableaux present a new quality of the-maticism for Rachmaninov, a unique synthesis of melody, harmony and texture. The texture of the sound embroidery is very musical; the interaction of its different layers is very intricate too; the interaction of themes and registers bring in an orchestral color to the Etudes, it is not by a chance circumstance that five of the Etude-tableaux exist in arrangements for orchestra by Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), which were made upon a request and with the blessing of Rachmaninov, with which the latter was quite content in terms of their artistic merit: "Permit me, dear Maestro {Respighi - editor}, to convey my utmost admiration with the wonderful result of your brilliant orchestration. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for the precise correspondence (...) with the original".

The aforementioned traits of evolution of the piano style are especially discernible in the Etudes-tableaux, Op. 39. The merging together of melody, harmony and texture into one indivisible whole is characteristic not only for the fast (which in itself is quite natural), but also for the slow etudes. In the Etude in A minor, Op. 39 No. 2 (Lento assai) the theme is presented by a wavering figuration with a hidden voice, which shows through faintly. Its overall general character is that of an emotionally aloof, "retrospective" lyricism; the implication of funeral music is further presented to it by the "Dies Irae" motive (an important theme of a Medieval Catholic sequence, which in Romantic music has become the traditional symbol of death), coming through in the middle voice: this aforementioned motive could be found in virtually all of Rachmaninov's late compositions. In the Etude in С minor, Op. 39 No. 7 (Lento lugubre) the role of the main theme is played by a chord progression in dotted rhythms, accentuating the motive of a second and a cadential progression (a move by an interval of a perfect fourth). A wonderful contrast is presented by the harmony with its abundance of chromaticisms and the melody, which is diatonic in its basis and bears a resemblance to the intonations of the znamenny chant; the episode in pianissimo (pp) in the development does not come by chance: the choral-like chords with their strict diatonicism remind us of Rachmaninov's masterpieces in the genre of sacred music: the "Vespers" and the "Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom".

The znamenny chant intonations generally permeate the entire texture of the Etudes-tableaux Op. 39. They show through the charging disfigured rhythms of the Etude in F sharp minor, Op. 39 No. 3 (Allegro molto), the contrasting marked metrically precise, toccata-like qualities of the Etude in В minor, Op. 39 No. 4 (Allegro assai), the barcarolle texture of the Etude in D minor, Op. 39 No. 8 (Allegro moderate) and even through the demonic color of the Etude in A minor, Op. 39 No. 6 (Allegro). The Etude-tableau in D major, Op. 39 No. 9 (Allegro moderate. Tempo di marcia) is the only piece in the cycle, which was written in the major tonality. It presents a grandiose fresco, a genuine Finale of the cycle of seventeen Etudes-tableaux (Op. 33 and Op. 39). The genre of a grandiose, if you will, superhu¬man march brings in a connection with two of Rachmaninov's popular masterpieces — the Prelude in G minor, Op. 23 No. 5 and the Etude-tableau in E flat major, opus 33 N. 6. (melody. su)