I've been surprised lately at how "impressed" I have been by the music of Rachmaninoff, I can't seem to get my mind off certain works, one of them the subject of the last Rachmaninoff post, the Prelude in D-flat major, Op.32/13 and the one in the post today.

The Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42 is the last work Rachmaninoff ever composed for piano, written in 1931 and was the only work he composed outside of his native Russia.

1931 was also the same year that Rachmaninoff denounced the Soviet Union, calling its leaders "communist grave-diggers." To no surprise, the music of Rachmaninoff was subsequently banned by Stalin but unlike the case with Shostakovich, realized that Rachmaninoff's music was more appealing and less-radical and eventually had it slowly rehabilitated nearly three years later. The Corelli variations was part of that movement, and the work was very well received in Moscow.

The following recording is of Boris Berezovsky, a favored Rachmaninoff interpreter for myself and November's Great Performer (after October was skipped...oops), at an Oct 3, 2004 concert in Amsterdam at the famed Concertgebouw.

Part One

Theme and Variations 1-10

The work is effectively divided into a cast of three movements, Allegro and Scherzo, Adagio, and Finale. The outer panels are in D minor, and the inner one in D major. The original "Corelli" theme is elegant and pristine, and quite unlike Rachmaninoff's normal style. The first movement is rounded out with the first 13 variations: the first is lively and easily related to the opening theme, the next three are a little slower, growing in their complexity. The piece is charged in a new rhythmic direction with variations 5-7 which maintain a delicate balance between the original theme and the keeping it Classical sounding.

Part Two

Variations 11-20 and Coda

Variations 8-13 form the last group in the first movement. The first here is marked Adagio misterioso and establishes a sort of musical haze from which even the livelier variations in this section do not completely break free. The ninth is among the most beguiling, its thematic thread and haunting harmonies imparting a sense of mystery and desolation. Some of the faster music in the succeeding variations is reminiscent of the writing in the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

There is a brief Intermezzo following variation 13 and a reprise of the original theme, but now in D major. The two second movement variations, 14 and 15, are slow and sound closest to Rachmaninoff's more Romantic style.

The Finale consists of variations 16 through 20 and the coda. The first of these is colorful and lively, the second delicate and somewhat exotic, some of the harmonies tinged with a slightly eastern flavor. The last three variations are the most muscular of all, featuring big, brilliant chords and powerful fortes. In the coda, the mood subsides, its thematic morsels are reminiscent of the slower music in the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 4.

A great installment into the solo repertoire that would become the last solo work Rachmaninoff would ever write.