18th Variation by Rachmaninoff from Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini (piano solo arr.) – Katalin Zsubrits, piano. Sheet music download from our Library.
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, (Russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, Rapsodiya na temu Paganini) is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto, all in a single movement. Rachmaninoff wrote the work at his summer home, the Villa Senar in Switzerland, according to the score, from 3 July to 18 August 1934.
Rachmaninoff himself, a noted interpreter of his own works, played the piano part at the piece’s premiere on 7 November 1934, at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Rachmaninoff, Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra made the first recording, on 24 December 1934, at RCA Victor’s Trinity Church Studio in Camden, New Jersey.
After a brief introduction, the first variation is played before the theme. Paganini’s theme is stated on strings with the piano picking out salient notes, after the first variation. Rachmaninoff likely got the idea of having a variation before the theme from the finale of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. Variations II to VI recombine elements of the theme. The pauses and rhetorical flourishes for the piano in variation VI herald a change of tempo and tone.
The piano next gravely intones the Dies Irae, the “day of wrath” plainchant from the medieval Mass of the Dead, while the orchestra accompanies with a slower version of the opening motif of the Paganini theme. The piece is one of several by Rachmaninoff to quote the Dies Irae plainchant melody.
The slow 18th variation is by far the best known, and it is often included on classical music compilations without the rest of the work. It is based on an inversion of the melody of Paganini’s theme. In other words, the A minor Paganini theme is literally played “upside down” in D♭ major, with a few other changes. Rachmaninoff himself recognized the appeal of this variation, saying “This one, is for my agent.”
The 18th variation, by far the most popular, has been used in various movie and TV show soundtracks to different degrees. This includes: The Story of Three Loves (1953) Somewhere in Time (1980 film) Singapore Sling (1990 film) Dead Again (1991) Groundhog Day (1993 film) Ronin (1998 film) The Byron James Story (2010 TV movie documentary) Nikolina and Tomislav (2013 short) Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory (2014 documentary) The Good Wife (2015) The pop song “If I Had You” by The Korgis uses the melody fragment from the 18th variation.
The video game Gran Turismo 6 uses it as the intro theme.
Browse in the Library:
Artist or Composer / Score name | Cover | List of Contents |
---|---|---|
A dozen A Day Book 1 Technical exercises for the piano | A dozen A Day Book 1 Technical exercises for the piano | |
A dozen A Day Book 2 Technical exercises for the piano | ||
A dozen A Day Book 3 Technical exercises for the piano | ||
A dozen A Day Book 4 Technical exercises for the piano | ||
A dozen A Day Mini Book Technical exercises for the piano | ||
A dozen Day Preparatory Book Technical exercises for the piano | ||
A Farewell To Arms Love Theme From A Farewell To Arms film by Mario Nascimbene Francis Webster 1957 | ||
A Felicidade (Antonio Carlos Jobim) | ||
A Festival Gathering Of Carols (Musescore File).mscz | ||
A Fine Frenzy – Almost Lover | ||
A Fistful of Dollars (Ennio Morricone) | ||
A Generative Theory Of Tonal Music by Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff (Book) | ||
A Guide To Guitar Chords by Curt Sheller | A Guide To Guitar Chords by Curt Sheller | |
A Guide To Musical Analysis by Nicholas Cook (Book) | ||
A Handbook Of Piano Playing (By Eric Hope) (1962) | ||
A Heart Full Of Love (Musescore File).mscz | ||
A love suicide (Yutaka Minobe) | ||
A Love Supreme (by Ashley Kahn) The story of john Coltrane’s signature album (Book) | ||
A Media Luz (Edgardo Donato) | ||
A Modern Approach To Jazz Rock And Fusion For Guitar with Tablature | A Modern Approach To Jazz Rock And Fusion For Guitar | |
A Modern Method For Guitar (Berklee) 1 by William Leavitt | A Modern Method Berklee 1 | |
A Modern Method For Guitar (Berklee) 2 by William Leavitt | A Modern Method For Guitar (Berklee) 2 | |
A Modern Method For Guitar (Berklee) 3 by William Leavitt | A Modern Method For Guitar (Berklee) 3 | |
A MOZART REINCARNATED (Ennio Morricone) | ||
A Mozart Reincarnated by Ennio Morricone (Musescore File).mscz | ||
A New Approach To Ear Training by Leo Kraft (BOOK) | ||
A New Approach To Piano Technique (By Ruth A. Dickerson) (1962) | A new approach to piano technique | |
A Night In Tunisia – Dizzy Gillespie.mscz | ||
A Pedal Method For The Piano (By Albert F Venino) (1893) | ||
A Popular Account Of Ancient Musical Instruments And Their Development by William Lynd (Book 1897) | ||
A Rockin’ Christmas Piano Vocal Guitar | A Rockin’ Christmas Piano Vocal Guitar Contents — Rockin Christmas | |
A Single Man – George’s Waltz (Shigeru Umebayashi) | ||
A Single Man – Stillness of the Mind (Abel Korzeniowski) | ||
A Smooth Jazz Christmas – Mellow Seasonal Favorites for Piano arr. Roger House | A Smooth Jazz Christmas – Mellow Seasonal Favorites for Piano arr. Roger House | |
A Song For You – Leon Russell Ray Charles (Musescore File).mscz | ||
A Star Is Born – Always Remember Us This Way Lady Gaga | ||
A Star Is Born – Shallow Lady Lady Gaga | ||
A Tale Of Two Sisters Ost – Epilogue Piano Solo | ||
A Thousand Years – Twilight OST (Christina Perri) | ||
A Time For Love – Johnny Mandel | ||
A Time For Us – Guitar TABlature | ||
A Time For Us (Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet) Nino Rota | ||
A Time For Us (Romeo and Juliet OST) Nino Rota | ||
A Touch Of Jazz 14 well-known hymns, gospel songs and contemporary praise songs by Wolaver Bill | A Touch Of Jazz 14 well-known hymns, gospel songs and contemporary praise songs by Wolaver Bill | |
A Tribute To Ella Fitzgerald Piano Vocal Guitar | A tribute to ELLA FITZGERALD | |
A Walk To Remember – Only Hope | ||
A whiter shade of pale – Procul Harum | A whiter shade of pale – Procul Harum | |
AaRON U-turn Lili Piano | ||
Ab Ovo – Joep Beving (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Abba – Abba Gold – Greatest Hits | ABBA Gold Geatest Hits booksong sheet music | |
Abba – Chiquitita | ||
Abba – Dancing Queen | ||
Abba – Fernando | ||
Abba – I Have A Dream | ||
Abba – Like An Angel Passing Through My Room | ||
Abba – Mamma Mia | ||
Abba – Slipping Through My Fingers | ||
Abba – Thank You For The Music | Abba-Thank-You-For-The-Music 1st page | |
ABBA – Thank You For The Music (Piano Vocal Guitar) | ABBA – Thank You For The Music (Piano Vocal Guitar) | |
ABBA – Thank You For the Music (Piano vocal Guitar) (Musescore File).mscz | ||
Abba – Thank You For The Music Piano & vocal | Abba – Thank You For The Music-abba-satb | |
Abba – The Winner Takes It All | ||
ABBA Dancing Queen Easy Piano Solo | ||
ABBA Fernando (Piano Solo arr.) | ||
ABBA Fernando (Piano Solo arr.).mscz | ||
ABBA Greatest Hits | ABBA GREATEST HITS SHEET MUSIC BOOK | |
ABBA I Have A Dream | ||
Abba The Very Best Vol 1 Easy Piano Hans Gunter Heumann Pop Classics For Piano | Abba The Very Best Vol 1 Easy Piano | |
Abba The Very Best Vol 2 Easy Piano Hans Gunter Heumann Pop Classics For Piano | Abba The Very Best Vol 2 Easy Piano | |
Abbey Lincoln Songbook | Abbey Lincoln Songbook | |
Abbey Lincoln Songbook Piano Vocal Guitar Chords | Abbey Lincoln Songbook Piano Vocal Guitar Chords | |
Abdullah Ibrahim – The Piano World Of | Abdullah Ibrahim, The Piano World Of | |
Abdullah Ibrahim The African Piano Of Abdullah Ibrahim Vol 1 | Abdullah Ibrahim The African Piano Of Abdullah Ibrahim Vol 1 | |
Abdullah Ibrahim The Wedding (piano solo transcription sheet music, partition) | ||
Abel Korzeniowski – Death Is My Heir (from Romeo and Juliet) | ||
ABRSM Jazz Piano Pieces Grade 1 to 5 | ABRSM Jazz Piano Pieces Grade 1 to 5 ABRSM Jazz Piano Pieces Grade 5ABRSM Jazz Piano Pieces Grade 5 | |
ABRSM Piano Exam Pieces Grade 1 (2016) | ABRSM Piano Exam Pieces Grade 1 (2016) | |
ABRSM Piano Scales, Arpeggios Grade 8 | ||
ABRSM Piano Scales, Arpeggios and broken chords Grade 1 | ||
ABRSM Piano Scales, Arpeggios and broken chords Grade 4 | ABRSM Piano Scales, Arpeggios and broken chords Grade 4 | |
ABRSM Piano Scales, Grade 2 A Guide for Students and Teachers | ABRSM Piano Scales, Grade 2 A Guide for Students and Teachers | |
ABRSM – Time pieces for guitar vol. 1 | ||
ABRSM – Time pieces for guitar vol. 2 | ||
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 1 | ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 1 | |
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 2 | ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 2 | |
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 3 | ||
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 4 | ||
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 5 | ||
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 6 | ||
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 7 | ||
ABRSM 2017 18 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 8 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 1 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 2 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 3 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 5 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 6 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Grade 8 | ||
ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Initial Grade | ABRSM 2021-2022 Piano Exam Pieces Initial Grade | |
ABRSM Aural Training In Practice Book 1 Grades 1 to 3 | ||
ABRSM Aural Training In Practice Book 2 Grades 4 and 5 | ||
ABRSM Discovering Music Theory (Complete) Grades 1 to 5 Workbook by Simon Rushby (2020 Exams) | ABRSM Discovering Music Theory (Complete) Grades 1 to 5 Workbook by Simon Rushby (2020 Exams) contents | |
ABRSM Erster Verlust Grade 4 ABRSM Piano Exam Pieces 2021 & 2022 | ||
ABRSM Etude In A Minor – Dmitry Kabalevsky ABRSM Grade 4 Piano Exam Pieces 2021 & 2022 | ||
ABRSM Grade 2 – Inter-City Stomp byChristopher Norton From Microjazz Collection (Sheet Music) | ||
ABRSM Initial Grade Piano Exam Pieces 2023 2024 | ||
ABRSM Minuet and Trio D 41 No 21 – Franz Schubert ABRSM Grade 4 Piano Exam Pieces 2021 & 2022 | ||
ABRSM More Music Theory Sample Papers Grade 5 For New Format | ||
ABRSM Music Theory In Practice, Grade 1 (Eric Taylor) | ||
ABRSM Music Theory In Practice, Grade 2 (Eric Taylor) | ||
ABRSM Music Theory Past Papers Grade 1 2004 | ||
ABRSM Music Theory Past Papers Grade 4 2016 | ||
ABRSM Music Theory Past Papers Grade 5 2012 | ||
ABRSM Music Theory Past Papers Grade 6 2013 | ||
ABRSM Nikki Iles Danny Boy ABRSM Piano Exam Grade 8 2023 Jazz Piano arr. inspired by Bill Evans | ||
ABRSM Nikki Iles Friends Book 1 Intermediate Jazz Pieces For Piano | ABRSM Nikki Iles Friends Book 1 Intermediate Jazz Pieces For Piano | |
ABRSM Nikki Iles Friends Book 2 Intermediate To Advanced Jazz Pieces For Piano | ABRSM Nikki Iles Friends Book 2 Intermediate To Advanced Jazz Pieces For Piano | |
ABRSM Nikki Iles The Elephant Parade ABRSM piano Exam | ||
ABRSM Piano 2025-2026 Grade 8 C3 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square by Sherwin – Maschwitz | ||
ABRSM Piano Exam 2007-2008 Grade 3 | ||
ABRSM Piano Exam 2015-16 Grade 3 | ABRSM Piano Exam 2015-16 Grade 3 |