Classical Music | Cello Music

Recorded on 08/18/2009, uploaded on 03/20/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Sergei Rachmaninoff composed his 2 Morceaux de salon, op. 6 for violin and piano in 1893. The young composer had graduated from the Moscow Conservatory only two years early and was enjoying the first fruits of his labors as an independent composer. Despite the unexpected death of Tchaikovsky at the end of that year, this time was a productive one for Rachmaninoff, as he composed at his family’s idyllic country estate in Ivanovka. Abounding in youthfulness, the first piece of opus 6, “Romance,” nevertheless is tinged with the melancholic lyricism of Rachmaninoff’s mature works. A doleful tune is presented by the violinist without introduction, stretching out over a sturdy bass and a simple accompaniment of broken chords in the piano. The melody struggles to rise against its own weight, but inevitably closes with a cadence full of pathos. With little effort, Rachmaninoff transitions from the cadential figure closing the principal melody into the central episode. Despite the change to the key of the relative major, the mood of the episode remains quite melancholy, and even the forte climax does little to alleviate the piece’s stricken demeanor. A reprise of the first theme, somewhat altered, rounds out the Romance’s ternary design. The principal melody’s restatement leads into a brief cadenza for the soloist before the piece’s mournful and unsettling close.      Joseph DuBose

Transcribed by Yuriy Leonovich. World premiere recording of the transcription.