Anastassia Ivanova

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos: the Odyssey of a Stylistic Evolution Anastassia Ivanova

The story of Rachmaninoff?s life and career isperhaps one of the most unusual among those of famouscomposers. Not only did Rachmaninoff live in twocenturies, experiencing many changes in music, literature, theater and art, but he alsowitnessed momentous changes in Russia, as well as theimpact of world events on Russian history: the end ofthe Tsar?s Russia with the Revolution of 1917 and theFirst and Second World Wars. Numerous identified andunidentified sources have called Rachmaninoff ?thelast Romantic of the twentieth century,? implyingthat his style remained firmly in the Romantictradition throughout his career, untouched bytwentieth century musical influences. In fact, though, his style did evolve, but it did so in wayswhich were so smooth and subtle that the changes werealmost unnoticed. This book focuses on the evolutionof Sergei Rachmaninoff?s musical style as illustratedby his four Piano Concertos and the Rhapsody on aTheme by Paganini, comparing different stylisticfeatures such as orchestration, harmonic and melodiclanguage, and the relationship between the piano andthe orchestra.