Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18

1. 0:00
   Solo piano introduction

   The orchestra is silent. The piano plays a chord, drops to a low F and starts again. The chords grow louder from pp towards f, and the first theme enters after them.

2. 0:24
   First subject in C minor

   Violins, violas and clarinet play the C minor melody. Beneath them the piano plays broken chords up and down the keyboard, and cellos and double basses play the bass notes pizzicato.

3. 2:20
   Dr Nikolai Dahl, 1900

   “You will begin to write your concerto.” In the first months of 1900 Dr Nikolai Dahl repeated that promise to Rachmaninoff during their daily treatment sessions. After the failure of his First Symphony the composer had been struggling to write. The new concerto carried Dahl’s name on its dedication page.

4. 2:30
   Second subject in E♭ major, piano

   The piano plays the long second melody in E♭ major. The melody lies in its upper notes, over its own broken chords, and the orchestra plays little around them. The piano accompanied the first theme; here it plays both melody and accompaniment.

5. 4:00
   Development section

   The long melodies are broken into shorter phrases, which the piano and woodwinds pass back and forth as the music modulates. A march-like rhythm takes shape in the piano. It is later set against the returning first subject.

6. 4:35
   First complete performance, Moscow, 1901

   Rachmaninoff was the soloist at the first complete performance in Moscow on 9 November 1901. His cousin and former teacher Alexander Siloti conducted. The Adagio and finale had already had a successful première, and the first movement was heard for the first time.

7. 6:20
   Recapitulation of the first subject

   The orchestra brings back the first theme in C minor. The piano plays hard, march-like chords against it in place of its original arpeggios, so the broad melody sounds above a repeated rhythm in the piano.

8. 8:20
   Second melody, solo horn

   A solo horn plays the second melody in A♭ major, marked p dolce. The piano stops. The strings accompany with repeated pp chords under the horn’s long notes, following the march.

9. 9:56
   Coda, Meno mosso

   At the Meno mosso (rehearsal 16) the first theme returns pp in the strings over small piano figures. Rachmaninoff delays the final acceleration. The movement closes in C minor, and the concerto reaches C major only at the end of the finale.

Joins

1. 0:24
   Piano chords become arpeggios at rehearsal 1

   The repeated low F moves to C, and the piano changes from solid chords to arpeggios. Violins, violas and clarinet begin the C minor theme, marked con passione in the strings. Cellos and double basses play the bass line pizzicato beneath the piano’s arpeggios.

2. 2:30
   The piano takes the second melody

   The quick più mosso piano passage moves through cadences towards E♭ major. The dynamic then drops and the piano plays the second melody, sustained above its own broken chords. Short woodwind phrases are heard around the solo line.

3. 4:00
   Exposition into development

   The closing passage in E♭ major dies down. Woodwind phrases and piano figures take up fragments of both themes and repeat them over changing bass notes. The melody passes from one instrument to another, and the harmony moves away from the keys of the exposition.

4. 6:20
   Into the C minor recapitulation

   The piano’s accelerating chords and the brass calls lead directly into the return of C minor. The orchestra plays the first melody again while the piano continues the march-like rhythm developed in the middle section. The first theme returns during the crescendo.

5. 8:20
   Piano chord to solo horn

   The piano descends chromatically to an A♭ major chord at ppp. The piano then rests, and a solo horn plays the second subject, p dolce, as the strings repeat soft chords underneath. The horn plays the theme the piano had played earlier, in a single phrase.

6. 9:56
   The first theme returns at pp

   Late in the movement the piano arpeggios touch C major, and the coda then turns back towards C minor. At Meno mosso the strings play the first theme again at pp. Above a slower-moving bass the piano plays short figures. The final drive to the end begins from this pp return.

1. 0:00
   Introduction, C minor to E major

   Muted strings begin in C minor, the key of the first movement. Clarinets, bassoons and horns join their slow chords as the notes move by semitones. The four-bar introduction modulates to E major, where the piano enters with arpeggios.

2. 0:35
   Flute and clarinet solos

   The flute plays the melody above arpeggiated figures in the piano. A clarinet continues the phrase, marked dolce e sempre espressivo (sweetly, always expressive), while the piano accompaniment continues underneath.

3. 1:52
   Partial première, Moscow, 1900

   On 15 December 1900, in Moscow, Rachmaninoff played the Adagio and finale with Alexander Siloti conducting, at a concert for the Ladies’ Charity Prison Committee. The audience received the music enthusiastically. He had not yet finished the first movement.

4. 4:15
   Piano figuration with wind replies

   From rehearsal 20 the piano plays quick figures. Bassoons and horns reply in short phrases, and the bass line in the lower strings moves beneath the repeated shapes. The long opening melody is divided into shorter exchanges between soloist and orchestra.

5. 7:22
   Piano cadenza, rehearsal 25

   The orchestra holds a chord and the piano continues alone. Runs climb through the keyboard, broken off by thick chords, and trills follow. The Adagio sostenuto then returns.

6. 8:44
   Return of the opening theme, violins

   Adagio sostenuto, Tempo I. The piano returns to E major arpeggios, and the first violins take up the opening melody, marked espressivo.

7. 9:35
   Nikolai Dahl, dedicatee

   Nikolai Dahl, the doctor to whom Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto, was an amateur musician who hosted chamber-music evenings. In 1900 the composer visited him daily for treatment. The dedication “À Monsieur N. Dahl” stands above the opening bars on the concerto’s first page.

8. 10:39
   Piano melody with staccato flutes

   At rehearsal 27 the piano plays the melody in chords over an arpeggiated left hand. Above it, the flutes play short staccato figures and the strings hold sustained notes.

9. 11:20
   Final bars, E major chord

   The wind phrases stop, and the piano’s last moving notes sound above sustained strings. A final upward figure reaches the E major chord, which piano and strings hold together under a fermata.

Joins

1. 0:35
   Muted string chords to piano entry

   The muted strings play chords in C minor that move chromatically into E major. The piano enters at p with broken chords that circle over a low E. A solo flute begins the melody and a clarinet continues it, while the piano keeps up its steady motion beneath.

2. 4:15
   Wind phrases around the piano

   The piano’s quick notes move out of the background. Its hands exchange short phrases, and bassoons, horns and upper winds reply with short phrases of their own. Beneath the repeated figures the lower strings move the harmony through chromatic changes away from the E major of the opening.

3. 7:22
   Orchestral chord and fermata before the cadenza

   Beneath the piano’s rising run, the timpani roll and the wind, trombones and strings hold sustained notes in a crescendo. At rehearsal 25 the orchestra plays a chord, followed by a long fermata over rests. The piano then continues alone, climbing from the bass in runs and trills.

4. 8:44
   Cadenza to Tempo I

   The piano’s long run ends in a trill and a ritardando. At Adagio sostenuto, Tempo I the E major arpeggios return at pp. The first violins play the melody again, p espressivo, above the low E and the soloist’s circling notes.

5. 11:20
   Winds drop out before the final chord

   The flutes and clarinets finish their short figures and stop. The strings hold their notes while the piano completes its broken chords and final rising line. The harmony stays in E major under the closing phrase, and piano and strings end together under a fermata.

1. 0:00
   Orchestral introduction

   The strings begin with short phrases that pass between violins and cellos. Clarinets, bassoons and tuba accompany them quietly, and the piano rests. The introduction modulates from the Adagio’s E major back towards C minor.

2. 0:30
   First theme, piano

   The piano plays wide leaps across the keyboard, then short, accented figures. Flutes and clarinets reply, and the strings accompany pizzicato.

3. 1:04
   Richter recording, Warsaw, 1959

   On 26 and 28 April 1959 Sviatoslav Richter recorded the concerto in the Philharmonic Hall, Warsaw, with Stanisław Wisłocki conducting the Warsaw orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon issued it on LP as DG 138 076, together with Rachmaninoff preludes.

4. 1:40
   Second theme, oboe and violas

   Moderato. The oboe and violas introduce the long second theme in B♭ major. The piano rests while horns hold the harmony and cellos and basses play pizzicato underneath.

5. 2:18
   Piano melody, rehearsal 31

   At rehearsal 31 the soloist returns with the long melody, marked mf dolce. The right hand plays it in chords above broken chords in the left hand. The orchestra is reduced to a few held notes in the wind and strings.

6. 3:30
   Visit to Tolstoy, early 1900

   In early 1900 Rachmaninoff and the bass Feodor Chaliapin performed one of his songs for Leo Tolstoy in the hope of encouragement. Tolstoy asked: “Tell me, do you really think anybody needs music like that?”

7. 3:58
   Return of the first theme

   The short figures of the first theme return to the foreground. The piano plays chords high on the keyboard, and winds, brass and strings reply in short bursts. These phrases occupy most of the development.

8. 4:56
   Treatment by Nikolai Dahl, 1900

   From January to April 1900 Rachmaninoff saw the psychiatrist Nikolai Dahl every day. Dahl used hypnosis, and each session repeated one phrase: “You will begin to write your concerto.” Rachmaninoff was composing again by the summer, and he dedicated the finished concerto to Dahl.

9. 5:40
   Partial première, Moscow, 1900

   On 15 December 1900, at a benefit concert in Moscow, Rachmaninoff played the second and third movements with Siloti conducting. The audience received them with great success, and the first movement had not yet been written. The complete concerto was first performed on 9 November 1901, with the same soloist and conductor.

10. 6:16
    Second theme in D♭ major

    The long melody returns in D♭ major, Moderato, played by flute and first violins. The piano rests again before taking it up. The theme is a minor third higher than at its first appearance.

11. 6:52
    Piano takes the tune, rehearsal 37

    At a tempo (rehearsal 37) the piano takes the tune from the flute and violins, again marked mf dolce. Right-hand chords carry the melody above rolling left-hand arpeggios. The orchestra thins once more to a few held notes.

12. 8:10
    Popular song adaptation

    The long melody of the finale became the basis of the song Full Moon and Empty Arms. Frank Sinatra recorded it.

13. 8:28
    Piano entry with accelerando

    Short phrases pass between the woodwinds and strings. The piano enters p, with poco a poco accelerando marked above its repeated figures. The bass begins to move, and the tempo increases towards the final flourish.

14. 9:56
    Presto and piano flourish

    At the Presto the orchestra plays fff chords, then rests under long fermatas marked lunga. The piano plays a quasi glissando across the keyboard and continues to a fermata of its own. The Maestoso follows.

15. 10:16
    Maestoso in C major

    In the Maestoso the long melody returns in C major in the winds and strings, above full chords in the piano. Horns, trombones and tuba support it. The melody first heard on the oboe is now played by the full orchestra.

16. 11:05
    Più vivo and final cadence

    At Più vivo the piano resumes quick figures after the broad melody. Over repeated orchestral chords the music drives to the final C major cadence. The concerto ends with four emphatic attacks.

Joins

1. 0:30
   The piano enters in C minor

   The short string phrases build into an orchestral crescendo. The piano enters with a flourish and then moves between low bass notes and high figures in C minor. As its accented theme takes shape, flutes and clarinets reply over pizzicato strings.

2. 1:40
   Oboe and violas take the melody

   A ritardando slows the piano’s broken chords. At Moderato the soloist rests, and oboe and violas begin the B♭ major melody. Horns hold quiet chords, and cellos and basses play the bass line pizzicato beneath the long phrase.

3. 3:58
   Piano run and ff chords open development

   The lyrical group closes in B♭ major and is followed by forceful exchanges. The piano climbs through a quick run and strikes high chords at ff. Winds, brass and strings reply with short, accented phrases. The development is built on the small figures of the first theme.

4. 6:16
   Long theme returns in D♭ major

   The piano slows through Meno mosso and a ritardando, then stops at Moderato. Flute and first violins play the long theme again in D♭ major. Clarinets and bassoons hold the harmony, and the lower strings pluck the bass notes.

5. 8:28
   Short phrases accelerate towards Presto

   The long melody breaks into short phrases in the wind and strings. The piano enters at a quiet dynamic over a held low C. Its repeated figures are marked poco a poco accelerando. The horns join the rhythm. When the bass begins to move, the passage accelerates to Presto.

6. 10:16
   Solo flourish leads into C major Maestoso

   The orchestra plays a short Presto passage. A long fermata over rests follows, and the piano then plays alone. Its flourish crosses the keyboard and slows into the Maestoso. The second melody returns in C major in the winds and strings, above full chords in the piano and a low C in the bass.

1. 0:00
   Opening chords, solo piano

   The piano begins alone. Each chord is followed by a low F, and the repeated strokes grow from pp towards f. Rachmaninoff writes a short ritardando before the hands move into the arpeggios beneath the first theme.

2. 0:26
   First theme, strings and clarinet

   In Stokowski’s orchestra the strings and clarinet play the C minor melody, and Rachmaninoff plays running arpeggios beneath it. Cellos and basses play pizzicato. The piano, which began the movement alone, now accompanies the orchestra’s long phrase.

3. 0:55
   Recording session, Philadelphia, 10 April 1929

   Rachmaninoff and Stokowski made this recording at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music on 10 April 1929. They recorded the opening three times. Victor chose the third take, which was also issued in Britain on HMV D.B. 1333.

4. 2:30
   First complete performance, Moscow, 1901

   At the première of the complete concerto in Moscow on 9 November 1901, Rachmaninoff played and Alexander Siloti conducted. Siloti was his cousin and former piano teacher. The last two movements had already been performed in Moscow at a charity concert the previous December.

1. 0:00
   Four-bar introduction, muted strings

   Muted strings begin in C minor, the key of the first movement. Their slow chords move by semitones towards E major, and clarinets, bassoons and horns join them. The piano enters in E major.

2. 0:28
   Flute, then clarinet

   The piano plays arpeggios beneath a wind melody. A flute begins the phrase, and a clarinet continues it, marked dolce e sempre espressivo (sweetly, always expressive).

3. 1:02
   Recording, Philadelphia, 1929

   At the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on 10 April 1929, Rachmaninoff and Stokowski recorded two takes of the opening of the Adagio. The first became the master and the second was destroyed. The side was issued on HMV D.B. 1334.

4. 2:20
   Charity concert, Moscow, 1900

   On 15 December 1900 Rachmaninoff played this Adagio and the finale in Moscow, with Alexander Siloti conducting. The concert raised money for prisoners through the Ladies’ Charity Prison Committee. The first movement was not yet finished.