Sergei Rachmaninoff: “Vocalise“ op. 34 No. 14 for piano solo (arr. by Takuya Shigeta)

Performed by Christian Dillig, piano () Vocalise from Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) is certainly one of his best known works. The original from 1915 is for voice and piano. - (N. Koutcher) However, the work is ultimately better known in the sum of its numerous arrangements for other instruments or for orchestral arrangements, which Rachmaninoff himself began soon after its composition: - (Voice/Orchestra, K. Te Kanawa) - (Cello/Piano, M. Maisky) - (Violin/Orchestra, I. Perlman) - cond. S. Rachmaninoff) - (Orchestra, cond. E. Ormandy) Several times it has been arranged for solo piano. Here is a non-exhaustive list: - Alexander Siloti (Rachmaninoff’s cousin): (D. Hulbert) - Zoltan Kocsis: (Z. Kocsis) - Alan Richardson: (E. Gilels) - Arkadi Chubrik: (A. Chubrik) - Daniil Trifonov: (D. Trifonov) - Vyacheslav Gryaznov: (V. Gryaznov) - Earl Wild: (E. Wild) - Takuya Shigeta: The version I play here Various simplified versions for piano are also available, e.g..: - Galya (Galya) - Paul Barton: (P. Barton) - Again Takuya Shigeta (recording only as tutorial): Other simplifications are commercially available. Some of the arrangements mentioned get by with embellishments (Kocsis, Richardson, Trifonov, Wild), place the melody part temporarily in the bass (Richardson, Barton), or add an extended Lisztian or Chopinian arpeggio or chordal accompaniment in places (Koczis, Wild), or change the key (Trifonov). The arrangement I chose, on the other hand, remains lean and as faithful as possible to the original. In character, the Vocalise is a lament, an elegy. Rachmaninoff wrote the piece in the summer of 1915 as the only vocal work without text. I thought the occasion might have been the death of Skriabin, who died unexpectedly in April of that year. Rachmaninoff had met Skriabin in his early youth, when he himself, as a penniless talent, lived and enjoyed lessons in the home of the piano teacher Nikolai Zverevs, who also taught Skriabin, who was a year older. On a musical level, there were indeed later tensions and blatant disagreements between the two composers. But Rachmaninoff was deeply affected by Skriabin’s early death and, in memory of his deceased friend, went on a concert tour in the summer of 1915 exclusively with works by Skriabin. Tonally, from the key (C sharp minor) und from it’s essence there is a certain closeness to Skriabin’s 1st Etude op. 2 No. 1 an early work by Skriabin, which the latter had composed at 16 and which was well known to Rachmaninoff. There is, however, a reference to a first version of the Vocalise that Rachmaninoff presented in early April 1915, a few days before Skriabin’s death. Rachmaninoff’s revised the work later that year, however, into the version we know today and published it late in the year. Perhaps the intense study of Skriabin’s works this year left more than a trace in the Vocalise. Only a few months later he already arranged the accompaniment of the Vocalise for orchestra.