Sergei Rachmaninoff - Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 (1913/1931)

Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and rich orchestral colours. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output and he made a point of using his skills as a performer to fully explore the expressive and technical possibilities of the instrument.

Please support my channel:
https://ko-fi.com/bartjebartmans

Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36 (1913 — 1st version & 1931 — 2nd version)
Dedication: Matvey Presman (1870–1941)

1. Allegro agitato (0:00)
2. Non allegro—Lento (9:22)
3. L'istesso tempo—Allegro molto (16:31)

Zoltan Kocsis, piano

Parts of the 1913 cross-outs were omitted to enhance readability.

Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, Rachmaninoff moved with his family to a house in Rome that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had used. It was during this time in Rome that Rachmaninoff started working on his second piano sonata. However, because both of his daughters contracted typhoid fever, he was unable to finish the composition in Rome. Instead, Rachmaninoff moved his family on to Berlin in order to consult with doctors. When the girls were well enough, Rachmaninoff traveled with his family back to his Ivanovka country estate, where he finished the second piano sonata. Its premiere took place in Kursk on 18 October 1913 (5 October in the Julian calendar).

When Rachmaninoff performed the piece at its premiere in Moscow, it was well received. However, Rachmaninoff himself was not satisfied with the work and felt that too much in the piece was superfluous. Thus, in 1931, he commenced work on a revision. Major cuts were made to the middle sections of the second and third movements and all three sections of the first movement, and some technically difficult passages were simplified.

Видео Sergei Rachmaninoff - Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36 (1913/1931) канала Bartje Bartmans