Scherzo in D minor (Rachmaninoff)
Scherzo in D minor is Sergei Rachmaninoff's earliest surviving composition for orchestra, composed when he was a student at the Moscow Conservatory.[1] It takes between four and five minutes to play.
The manuscript is dated 5-21 February 1888, when Rachmaninoff was still only 14. An unknown hand has changed this date to 1887.[2] It is dedicated to his cousin Alexander Siloti, and it was intended to be part of a larger work because it is headed "Third movement".
The model for the work is the Scherzo from Felix Mendelssohn's incidental music for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.[3] Rachmaninoff had earlier transcribed Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony for two pianos, and the Scherzo also has echoes of that work.[4]
The piece is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (B♭), 2 bassoons, horn (F), trumpet (B♭), 2 timpani, violins I, violins II, violas, cellos and double basses.
The first performance of the Scherzo took place in Moscow on 2 November 1945, conducted by Nikolai Anosoff, along with another early work by Rachmaninoff, Prince Rostislav. The Scherzo was published in 1947.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ "CD Baby". Archived from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ "bnet". Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ Harrison, Max (2006). Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. London: Continuum. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-8264-9312-5. Archived from the original on 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
- ^ "Talk Classical". Archived from the original on 2009-07-30. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ^ "Chandos CD notes". Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
External links[edit]
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