After 1917, as Rachmaninoff's property in Russia was confiscated and his sources of income dried up, he realized that in order to provide for his family he had to become a full-time pianist, since it was in this capacity that he was best known in the West. These economic constraints consumed him, leaving him little time to compose. In a 1933 interview he said: “For 17 years, since I lost my country, I have felt unable to compose. When I was on my farm in Russia during the summers, I had joy in my work. Certainly, I still write music – but it does not mean the same to me now.” 

One of the few works composed after 1917 is the Piano Concerto No. 4. Rachmaninoff composed it in 1926 for the Philadelphia Orchestra, but he extensively revised – and shortened – it in 1941; the original version was so long that Rachmaninoff joked to the dedicatee, fellow expat-composer Nicholas Medtner, that it had to be performed on two consecutive evenings. While its themes and overall structure recall the earlier concertos, it lacks their tautness and never gained great popularity. 

This concerto differs in many ways from the composer’s earlier works; for one thing, Rachmaninoff didn’t assign it a key. It de-emphasizes his gift for melody and shrouds the tonality in ambiguity, especially in the first movement. The listener searches in vain for a home key as the music shifts from one key to another while always hinting at, but never producing, a resolution. This movement is a fascinating combination of nineteenth century harmony with flirtations with polytonality and even atonality. It is said that the Concerto’s lack of popularity resulted from its loose structure, but it is likely that audiences felt a bit at sea with no firm idea of the composer’s goals. The lyrical second theme, however, is a typical Rachmaninoff broad, romantic melody that stays in one key and which the listeners can take home with them.

If the first movement was all over the place, the second is just the opposite. It is based on a single theme, and a very restricted melody at that, a descending major third (Three Blind Mice). 

The Finale suggests the chase by the farmer’s wife. It is notable for its abrupt mood shifts and changes in tempo, as well as Rachmaninoff’s familiar virtuosic demands on the pianist. This is the movement most comparable with his earlier concertos both in its relationship between orchestra and piano and a few classic Rachmaninoff clichés: the loud, violent opening, tempered by the first entrance of the piano; the fanfare-type motive; the extended crescendo with piano and timpani towards the end of the movement; and a grand orchestral melody before the soloist’s accompanied cadenza. 

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