Rachmaninoff D minor Piano Sonata Op 28 II Lento, an analysis with sheet music

Rachmaninoff D minor Sonata Op 28 II Lento Zoltán Kocsis, analysis with sheet music

Rachmaninoff free sheet music & pdf scores download

Find and download thousands of piano, guitar and vocal scores in our online Sheet Music Library:
www.sheetmusiclibrary.website

Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28, is a piano sonata by Sergei Rachmaninoff, completed in 1908. It is the first of three “Dresden pieces”, along with Symphony No. 2 and part of an opera, which were composed in the quiet city of Dresden, Germany.

It was originally inspired by Goethe‘s tragic play Faust; although Rachmaninoff abandoned the idea soon after beginning composition, traces of this influence can still be found. After numerous revisions and substantial cuts made at the advice of his colleagues, he completed it on April 11, 1908. Konstantin Igumnov gave the premiere in Moscow on October 17, 1908. It received a lukewarm response there, and remains one of the least performed of Rachmaninoff’s works.

It has three movements, and takes about 35 minutes to perform. The sonata is structured like a typical Classical sonata, with fast movements surrounding a slower, more tender second movement. The movements feature sprawling themes and ambitious climaxes within their own structure, all the while building towards a prodigious culmination. Although this first sonata is a substantial and comprehensive work, its successor, Piano Sonata No. 2 (Op. 36), written five years later, became the better regarded of the two. Nonetheless, it, too, was given serious cuts and opinions are mixed about those.

Background

In November 1906, Rachmaninoff, with his wife and daughter, moved to Dresden primarily to compose a second symphony to diffuse the critical failure of his first symphony, but also to escape the distractions of Moscow. There they lived a quiet life, as he wrote in a letter, “We live here like hermits: we see nobody, we know nobody, and we go nowhere. I work a great deal,” but even without distraction he had considerable difficulty in composing his first piano sonata, especially concerning its form.

The original idea for it was to be a program sonata based on the main characters of the tragic play Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles, and indeed it nearly parallels Franz Liszt‘s own Faust Symphony which is made of three movements which reflect those characters. However, the idea was abandoned shortly after composition began, although the theme is still clear in the final version.

Rachmaninoff enlisted the help of Nikita Morozov, one of his classmates from Anton Arensky‘s class back in the Moscow Conservatory, to discuss how the sonata rondo form applied to his sprawling work. At this time he was invited, along with Alexander Glazunov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Scriabin, and Feodor Chaliapin, to a concert in Paris the following spring held by Sergei Diaghilev to soothe France–Russia relations, although Diaghilev hated his music. Begrudgingly, Rachmaninoff decided to attend only for the money, since he would have preferred to spend time on this and his Symphony No. 2 (his opera project, Monna Vanna, had been dropped). Writing to Morozov before he left in May 1907, he expressed his doubt in the musicality of the sonata and deprecated its length, even though at this time he had completed only the second movement.

On returning to his Ivanovka estate from the Paris concert, he stopped in Moscow to perform an early version of the sonata to contemporaries Nikolai Medtner, Georgy Catoire, Konstantin Igumnov, and Lev Conus. With their input, he shortened the original 45-minute-long piece to around 35 minutes. He completed the work on April 11, 1908. Igumnov gave the premiere of the sonata on October 17, 1908, in Moscow, and he gave the first performance of the work in Berlin and Leipzig as well, although Rachmaninoff missed all three of these performances.

Composition

Movement 1.

The piece is structured as a typical sonata in the Classical period: the first movement is a long Allegro moderato (moderately quick), the second a Lento (very slow), and the third an Allegro molto (very fast).

  1. Allegro moderato (in D minor, ends in D major) The substantial first movement Allegro moderato presents most of the thematic material and motifs revisited in the later movements. Juxtaposed in the intro is a motif revisited throughout the movement: a quiet, questioning fifth answered by a defiant authentic cadence, followed by a solemn chord progression. This densely thematic expression is taken to represent the turmoil of Faust’s mind. The movement closes quietly in D major.
  2. Lento (in F major) In key, the movement pretends to start in D major before settling in the home key of F major. Although the shortest in length and performance time, the second movement Lento provides technical difficulty in following long melodic lines, navigating multiple overlapping voices, and coherently performing the detailed climax, which includes a small cadenza.
  3. Allegro molto (in D minor) Ending the sonata is the furious third movement Allegro molto. Lacking significant thematic content, the movement serves rather to exploit the piano’s character, not without expense of sonority. The very first measures of the first movement are revisited, and then dissolves into the enormous climax, a tour de force replete with full-bodied chords typical of Rachmaninoff, which decisively ends the piece in D minor.

Reception

Rachmaninoff played early versions of the piece to Oskar von Riesemann (who later became his biographer), who did not like it. Konstantin Igumnov expressed interest upon first hearing it in Moscow, and following his suggestion Rachmaninoff cut about 110 bars.

The sonata had a mediocre evaluation after Igumnov’s premiere in Moscow. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov had died several months previously, and the burden of heading Russian classical music had fallen on this all-Rachmaninoff programme of October 17, 1908. Although the concert, which also included Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin (Op. 22, 1903), was “filled to overflowing”, one critic called the sonata dry and repetitive, however redeeming the interesting details and innovative structures were.

Lee-Ann Nelson, via her 2006 dissertation, noted that Rachmaninoff’s revisions are always cuts, with the material simply excised and discarded. The hypothesis is that the frequency of negative responses to many of his pieces, not just the response to the first symphony, led to a deep insecurity, particularly with regard to length. The musicologists Efstratiou and Martyn argued against, for instance, the cuts made to the second sonata on a formal basis. Unlike other pieces, such as the second piano sonata and the fourth piano concerto, no uncut version of this piece is currently known to be extant.

Today the sonata remains less well-known than Rachmaninoff’s second sonata, and is not as frequently performed or recorded. Champions of the work tend to be pianists renowned for their large repertoire. It has been recorded by Eteri Andjaparidze, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Boris Berezovsky, Idil Biret, Sergio Fiorentino, Leslie Howard, Ruth Laredo, Valentina Lisitsa, Nikolai Lugansky, Olli Mustonen, John Ogdon, Michael Ponti, Santiago Rodriguez, Alexander Romanovsky, Howard Shelley, Daniil Trifonov, Xiayin Wang, and Alexis Weissenberg. Lugansky performs the piece regularly.

Browse in the Library:

Total Records Found in the Library: 12472, showing 120 per page
Artist or Composer / Score nameCoverList of Contents
The Phantom of the Opera – Andrew Lloyd Webber (Piano, Vocal, Guitar) sheet music sheet music pdf
The Physical Basis Of Piano Touch And Tone (By Ortmann Otto) (1925) sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
The pianist Anthology (28 favorite pieces collection) (1920) free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano A History In 100 Pieces by Susan Tomes (Book) free sheet music partitura partition noten
The Piano Guys sheet music The Piano Guys
The Piano Guys – O Come O Come Emmanuel free sheet music pdf
The Piano Guys Christmas Together Piano Solo With Optional Cello sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti The Piano Guys Christmas Together Piano Solo With Optional Cello Contents
The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt I Do free sheet music pdf
The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt Piano Solos I The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt Piano Solos I free sheet music & scores pdf download
The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt Piano Solos II The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt Piano Solos II
The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt Piano Solos III The Piano Guys Jon Schmidt Piano Solos III free sheet music & scores pdf download
The Piano Guys Let It Go Disneys Frozen Vivaldis Winter The Piano Guys Let It Go Disneys Frozen Vivaldis Winter
The Piano Guys Michael Meets Mozart The Piano Guys Michael Meets Mozart
The Piano Guys Perfect (piano solo) sheet music pdf
The Piano Odyssey Etudes 1 Celebration Series RCM free scores
The Piano Odyssey Etudes 2 (Celebration Series RCM) free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Etudes 3 Celebration Series RCM free scores
The Piano Odyssey Etudes 4 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 1 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 10 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 2 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 3 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 4 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 6 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music downloadpartitions gratuites Noten spartiti The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 6
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 7 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Piano Odyssey Repertoire 8 (Celebration Series) RCM free sheet music & scores pdf
The Pianoforte And Its Music (By Henry Edward Krehbiel) (1911) sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
The Pink Floyd Song Book (Guitar) sheet music pdf The Pink Floyd Song Book (Guitar)_compressed
The Pink Panther Full Theme (Musescore File).mscz
The Place I’ll Return To Someday – Final Fantasy Ix (Musescore File).mscz
The Platters – The Great Pretender free sheet music pdf
The Platters Anthology free sheet music & scores pdf download The Platters Anthology
The Polar Express – Believe – Glen Ballard The Polar Express – Believe sheet music
The Polar Express – Selections from free sheet music pdf The Polar Express – Selections from
The Polar Express – When Christmas Comes to Town – Glen Ballard
The Police – Every Breath You Take – Arr. For Guitar (Musescore File).mscz
The Police – Guitar Signature Licks with audio MP3 with TABs sheet music pdf The Police – Guitar Signature Licks
The Police – Play Guitar With The Police (Book + audio MP3) with Tablature free sheet music & pdf scores download Play Guitar With – The Police
The Police – The Best (songbook) Guitar with TABs sheet music The Police – The Best (songbook)
The Police – The Great Songs of The Police Police – The Great Songs of The Police
The Police – Walking on the Moon The Untold Story by Chris Campion (Book) free scores download
The Practical Jazz Guitarist – by Mark White (Berklee Press) free sheet music & scores pdf The Practical Jazz Guitarist – by Mark White
The Pretenders – I’ll Stand By You (Piano, vocal, guitar) free sheet music & pdf scores download
The Princess And The Frog – Randy Newman Easy Piano arr. free sheet music & scores pdf download The Princess And The Frog – Newman R. Easy Piano
The Principles Of Expression In Pianoforte Playing (By Adolph Friedrich Christiani) (1885) sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
The Producers – Betrayed!, From the Musical by Mel Brooks sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
The Producers Music Theory Handbook May 2023 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
The Punisher – Money For Everyone – Carlo Siliotto
The Queen – Alexandre Desplat free sheet music pdf
The Quotable Musician From Bach To Tupac (eBook) free sheet music & scores pdf download
The Ragtime songbook songs of – Charters, Ann, ed. 1965 free sheet music & pdf scores download The Ragtime songbook songs of – Charters, Ann, ed (1965)
The Readers Digest Childrens Songbook free sheet music pdf The Readers Digest Childrens Songbook
The Real Boogie Woogie Memphis Slim Piano Solos (1959) Book sheet music pdf
The Real Book 6th Ed sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti noten  The Real Book 6th Ed
The Real Book Jazz Standards In C Version – A Collection of some of the greatest songs of the 20th Century free sheet music pdf The Real Book Jazz Standards In C Version
The Real Book of Blues – 225 great blues Melody Line, chords, lyrics sheet music The Real Book of Blues
The Real Book Of Funk Jazz sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti real book of funk
The Real Book Of Jazz Volume I 5th Edition sheet music pdf sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti real book of jazz
The Real Book of Jazz Volume II (All new) sheet music The Real Book of Jazz Volume II
The Real Book of Jazz Volume III (all new) sheet music The Real Book of Jazz Volume III
The Real Book of Jazz Volume IV for C Instruments free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras The Real Book of Jazz Volume IV for C Instruments
The Real Book of Jazz Volume V The Real Book of Jazz Volume V
The Real Christmas Book Fake free sheet music & scores pdf download The Real Christmas Book Fake
The Real JAZZ Vol. 5 free scores download
The Real Little Classical Fake Book (over 600 Classical Themes and Melodies sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti Real classical fake book sheet music
The Real Rock Book 2 sheet music pdf Real Rock Guitar by Kenn ChipkinThe Real Rock Book 2
The Real Songbook – Bossa Nova 1 Brazilian Jazz Real Book (Sheet Music) The Real Songbook – Bossa Nova 1 Brazilian Jazz Real Book
The Red Book Great Piano Solos free sheet music & scores pdf The Red Book Great Piano Solos
The Reggae Songbook – Music Sales Corporation free sheet music & pdf scores download The Reggae Songbook – Music Sales Corporation
The Ring – End Credits Hans Zimmer sheet music pdf
The Rock Story Edited By Theo Cateforis (Book) free score download
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Science Fiction Double The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Science Fiction Double
The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed Authentic Guitar TABs free noten The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed Authentic Guitar TABs
The Rolling Stones – Best Of (Guitar Bass Drums Songbook) sheet music pdf The Rolling Stones – Best Of (Guitar Bass Drums Songbook)
The Rolling Stones – Get Off Of My Cloud
The Rolling Stones Classics – Volume One – Off The Record (Guitar Bass Drum Songbook) sheet music pdf The Rolling Stones Classics – Volume One- Off The Record (Guitar Bass Drum Songbook)
The Rolling Stones Guitar Play-Along Volume 66 – with audio MP3 embedded with TAB free sheet music & pdf scores download The Rolling Stones Guitar Play
The Rolling Stones Rock Score free sheet music & pdf scores download
The Rolling Stones Songbook (Sheet Music Guitar Tab)
The Russian School of Piano playing 1 free sheet music & scores pdf
The Russian School Of Piano Playing 2 free sheet music & scores pdf
The Sapin (Musescore File).mscz
The School Of Velocity Op 299 No. 1 (Musescore File).mscz
The Scientist – Coldplay Piano Arrangement(1) (Musescore File).mscz
The Secret History of Rock. The Most Influential Bands You’ve Never Heard free score download
The secret Life of Glenn Gould, A Genius in Love, by Michael Clarkson (2010) Biography sheet music pdf ebook
The Shadow Of Your Smile (Musescore File).mscz
The Shadow of your Smile Johnny Mandel Francis Webster Jazz Standard arr. Carsten Gerlitz free sheet music partitura partition noten
The Shadow of your Smile(lead sheet) Mandel & Webster sheet music
The Shadows – 20 Big Hits – Songbook sheet music pdf The Shadows songbook
The Shadows Easy Guitar Hits free download sheet music & scores pdf The Shadows Easy Guitar Hits
The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)
The Shawshank Redemption – Stoic Theme – Thomas Newman
The Simpson’s Theme (Piano) Sheet Music
The Simpsons – Main Title
The Simpsons Baby On Board The-Simpsons-Baby-On-Board
The Simpsons Minimum Wage Nanny The Simpsons Minimum Wage Nanny
The Simpsons Songbook – Danny Elfman The Simpsons songbook
The Simpsons Theme (Musescore File).mscz
The Simpsons Theme by Danny Elfman <img src="https://sheetmusiclibrary.website/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/What-a-wonderful-world-212x300.jpg" alt="sheet music download partitura partition spartiti" width="212" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-17629" />
The Sims Build Theme No. 1 sheet music pdf
The Slick Book free sheet music pdf
The Smiths – Anthology free sheet music & scores pdf download The Smiths – Anthology
The Smiths Best Of free sheet music & scores pdf The Smiths Best Of
The Song Is You – Jazz Standard The Song Is You – Jazz Standard
The Song Of Purple Summer (Musescore File).mscz
The Song Of Purple Summer Dunkan Sheik And Steven Sater (Musicals) sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti noten
The Song Writing Genius Within You by Geoffrey Williams (Book)2008 free sheet music & scores pdf
The Sound Of Music – Climb Every Mountain – Julie Andrews
The Sound Of Music – Rodgers & Hammerstein (Sheet Music Book) Vocal selections sheet music pdf The Sound of Music
The Sound Of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel (Musescore File).mscz
The Spirit Of God Like a Fire is Burning Mixed Chrus and Organ or Pino by Mark Wilberg Ssaattbb sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
The Story Of Music From Babylon To The Beatles How Music Has Shaped Civilization (Book) ree sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
The Streets Of Laredo – American Cowboy Song Johnny Cash (Musescore File).mscz
The Strokes – Is This It (guitar with TABs) sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti The Strokes
The Third Man Theme By Anton Karas Guitar TABs sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
The Three Tenors Songbook (for high voice and piano) free sheet music pdf The Three Tenors Songbook
The Time Machine – The Eloi – Klaus Badelt The Time Machine The Eloi Klaus Badelt 1st page
The Tokens – The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Piano Solo arr. sheet music, Noten, partitura, partition) sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
The Tokens – The_Lion_Sleeps_Tonight Piano Solo arr.mscz
sheet music library

It’s nice to meet you.

Sign up to receive our new posts in your inbox.

This field is required.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.