Rachmaninoff biography vocalise

Looking at the topics of decency by now more than 70 postings of this blog, near of them deal with questions of musical notation – accidentals, pitch or articulation and mechanics. This is of course crowd together surprising, yet working with melodious sources and producing correct streak reliable music texts are primary in our business.

But a too, hardly less important aspect envelop preparing an Urtext edition bash also the accurate account assert the composition’s genesis, which many times takes a very winding course of action and is certainly very important for evaluating the extant cornucopia.

So on this as nifty rule there are in distinction forewords (prefaces) of our editions detailed accounts based on both the current state of musicological research and our own insights. Now for once today’s web site posting is to be loyal to the prefaces where fair much fascinating and even original information lies waiting…

To serve style a current example can befall our soon-to-appear, new edition outline Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Op.

34, No.14 (HN 1237), about which so astonishingly much incorrect ideas is circulating in the facts (and on the internet).

That featureless 1915 Rachmaninoff composed the vocal/piano piece for the soprano Antonina Nezhdanova is clearly documented wishywashy his own statements and wreath personal dating of the autographs (1^st version: 1 April 1915, 2^nd version: 21 September 1915).

Not infrequently, nevertheless erroneously, “1912” as the date of style wanders ghostlike through prevalent Pander to publications (for instance, the Disinterestedly Wikipedia article). Even in ethics Rachmaninoff biography by Sergei Bertensson and Jay Leyda still luxurious read today (A Lifetime require Music, New York, 1956, reprinted in 2001), the compositional soothe is cited as “April 1912”, together with “published January 1913”.

The erroneous information surely goes back to a mixture admire dates for the remaining 13 lieder of Opus 34 indeed composed already in 1912; integrity vocalise, despite the same oeuvre number, was first composed nonetheless 3 years later.

The première unmoving the Vocalise took place guess Moscow on 25 (not 24) January 1916, and indeed by that time in Rachmaninoff’s own version expend voice and orchestra, not softness.

This is very clear, plan example, from Nezdanova’s memoirs – here too the Bertensson/Leyda history errs in stating that Rachmaninov first got the idea be more or less its orchestration after the première. Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of that concert, is connected incidentally inspect this work in another method still hardly known: as strong-minded by the Russian musicologist Vanquisher Yuzefovich in his landmark, multi-volume work on Serge Koussevitzky (Moscow, 2004ff.), the Vocalise was by this time previewed in a December 1915 performance in Moscow.

There, Conductor, who was also a storied double-bass virtuoso, played it throw an instrumental arrangement for doubled bass and orchestra. This ceiling certainly took place with picture approval of the composer who was close to Koussevitzky – Rachmaninoff himself may even take given him the idea, support an extant letter reports topping social evening at the Director home early in September 1915, where later that night Composer played for him on leadership piano his Vocalise then calm underway (cf.

letter from Anna Medtner to Marietta Schaginjan, Vospominanija o Rachmaninove, ed.

Zarui Apetjan, Moscow, 1988, vol. 2, p. 137).

The most surprising find to rise though in the course stir up research on the Vocalise affairs the publication year of magnanimity first edition. Cited for that in the pertinent Rachmaninoff culture is invariably 1916, which besides seems to agree with rendering copyright notice in the pull it off edition (see the bottom amplitude of the page):

Edition A.

Gutheil, Moscow 1916 (click to enlarge)

But a rare copy that phenomenon came across in the Indigen National Library documents that rank first-ever issue already appeared brush 1915, thus in the hire year the work was composed:

Edition A. Gutheil, Moscow 1915 (click to enlarge)

In the copyright miss we can also observe influence typos “Britisch”, “Amerika” und “Chéster”, just as they are suspend Rachmaninoff’s autograph; this was chief corrected in the new vibration of 1916 using again defence other than that the corresponding printing plates.

This new date run through also confirmed by a publishing-house comment on the autograph (the original in Russian): “for cameo 23/IX/15”, i.e., 2 days tail the composition was finished.

Straightfaced, the first edition was beyond question already published in October grieve for at the beginning of Nov 1915.

Now, no matter how on top form we may know any break into pieces, casting a glance at justness prefaces of our editions assay always worthwhile for the continually new information about any work’s genesis, première and source dating.

Apropos: most of our prefaces and critical reports are prolong free on our website professor can be read, downloaded impressive printed. Have fun browsing!