Rachmaninoff composed his collection of 13 songs op. 34 in 1912, but it was only three years later that he added a little closing piece without any text: the Vocalise, which soon outshone the other songs in terms of popularity and renown. Since its first performance in 1916 this expressive, melancholy piece has circulated in countless arrangements by others. Rachmaninoff himself made an arrangement for orchestra and voice, as well as one for orchestra alone. Our Urtext edition contains the original version for high voice and piano, and is based on the autograph sources in the Glinka Museum in Moscow. A particular highlight is the separate vocal part that not only serves singers well but also all those instrumentalists who wish to play this wonderful piece using the original solo part.
Content/Details
- Vocalise op. 34 Nr. 14
Audio/video
Preface
Sergei V. Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) is known today above all for his piano music; however, he also bequeathed a sizable vocal oeuvre to posterity. Next to operas and choral works, it was above all the genre of the song that kept firing his imagination. Between 1893 and 1916 he published altogether 71 songs in seven collections. Rachmaninoff was fond of texts by classical … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer
Sergej Rachmaninow
Composer and pianist who continued and expanded the late-Romantic tradition; he prepared the way for Prokofiev and Shostakovich. His oeuvre comprises orchestral works, piano pieces, choral works, several operas, and numerous songs.
| 1873 | Born in Semyonovo on April 1. From 1880 receives professional instruction in music. |
| 1885–92 | Studies music at the Moscow Conservatory. |
| 1890–92 | Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 1, with the diminished fourth in the main theme typical of his style. |
| 1892 | Successful performance of his one-act opera “Aleko” (a graduation work). Prelude in C-sharp minor for piano. |
| 1897 | Unsuccessful premiere of the Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 (with abrupt contrasts). First experiences as an opera conductor at Moscow’s Mamontov Theater. He becomes acquainted with Fyodor Shalyapin, later his friend. |
| 1900/01 | Composition of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, in a modified style (broad melodic arcs, transparent compositional style). |
| 1904–06 | Appointed conductor at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. |
| 1906 | Premieres of the operas “The Miserly Knight,” Op. 24, and “Francesca da Rimini,” Op. 25. |
| 1907 | Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27, with whimsical figuration in the woodwinds; Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28. |
| 1909 | Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30; symphonic poem “The Isle of the Dead,” Op. 29 |
| from 1910 | More complex compositional technique (enhanced polyphony, ambiguous harmonies, fast rhythmic alterations) in Thirteen Preludes for piano, Op. 32; “Études-tableaux,” Op. 33 (1911); Fourteen Songs, Op. 34 (1910–16). |
| 1917 | Rachmaninoff leaves Russia and lives in Stockholm, Copenhagen, the United States (career as pianist), and Switzerland. |
| 1926/41 | Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40. In 1935/36, Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 44. |
| from 1939 | He emigrates permanently to the United States. |
| 1943 | Death in Beverly Hills on March 28. |
About the authors
Dominik Rahmer (Editor)
Dr. Dominik Rahmer, born in 1971 in Mainz, studied musicology, philosophy and maths in Bonn. He did his Magister Artium in 1999 and his doctorate in 2006 with a thesis on the music criticism of Paul Dukas.
From 2001 to 2011 he was employed at Boosey & Hawkes/Bote & Bock in Berlin, where he also worked on the Critical Edition of the Works of Jacques Offenbach (OEK). Since 2011 he has been an editor at G. Henle Publishers in Munich where he has mainly concentrated his efforts on editing several volumes of French music and wind chamber music.