Rachmaninoff composed the Piano Concerto No. 3 in 1909 for a long-planned first tour of the United States where he was going to be featured in the exhausting capacity of wearing all three hats. He was ambivalent about the tour and significantly pressed for time. He did not begin the Concerto until June, taking with him a silent keyboard on which he practiced assiduously during the crossing. The tour and the Concerto were an artistic and financial success. And just as Haydn had been wooed to make his permanent home in London after the success of his “Salomon,” or “London,” symphonies, both the Boston and Cincinnati Symphonies offered Rachmaninoff their podiums. 

The Concerto premiered on November 28, 1909 with the New York Orchestra under Walter Damrosch and was repeated two months later with the same orchestra under Gustav Mahler. Unfortunately, we know nothing of what transpired between these two giants. The Concerto gained immediate and enduring popularity, especially with pianists. It requires immense stamina from the soloist, and it attests as much to the composer’s melodic inventiveness as to his outstanding pianistic abilities.

The opening movement is particularly rich in thematic material with new ideas and moods introduced throughout. Over the throbbing orchestra, the piano enters on the third measure with a sad melody in a narrow range, the melancholy mood prevailing throughout the elaborate development of the theme. The staccato second theme, introduced by the strings, is converted by the piano into a flowing lyrical, but dark, melody. The extremely long written-out cadenza takes nearly a third of the entire movement and is briefly joined halfway through first by a flute, then by the other woodwinds. Finally, the opening theme returns and the movement concludes in a whisper.

A languid theme on the oboe opens the Intermezzo, followed with a variation by the orchestra and finally by the soloist. The orchestra and piano continue in numerous permutations and variations, including a faster and livelier waltz-like variation that brightens the mood towards the end of the movement. But the opening mood returns in the coda. 

The Finale follows without interruption with a sudden shift in mood and an exuberant display of pianistic brilliance. The movement is episodic with contrasting sections and, again, a wealth of themes and a broad romantic melody to announce the conclusion.

Program notes by:
Joseph & Elizabeth Kahn
Wordpros@mindspring.com
www.wordprosmusic.com