Sergei Rachmaninoff
(1873-1943)

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30
Composed 1909

Composed in 1909 and premiered that November in New York with Walter Damrosch conducting, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto has earned a reputation as one of the most formidable and emotionally powerful concertos  in the piano repertoire. The story behind its composition is filled with mystery and quiet urgency. Rachmaninoff, never one to speak easily about his creative process, made no mention of the piece to his family until it was finished. It was likely composed at Ivanovka, his beloved summer retreat in the Russian countryside, a place of renewal where natural beauty often stirred his musical imagination. “They come: all voices at once,” he once wrote of his inspiration, “Not a bit here, a bit there. All.”

Part of his motivation may have been pragmatic. The dreaded prospect of an American tour loomed – a financially rewarding but emotionally taxing journey that he faced with growing reluctance. The new concerto became both a creative outpouring and a necessity. While the premiere with Damrosch was respectable, it was the second New York performance, conducted by Gustav Mahler, that Rachmaninoff remembered vividly: “He devoted himself to the concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had been practiced to the point of perfection.”

Despite Mahler’s advocacy, the piece was long neglected due to its notorious difficulty. Even the great Joseph Hofmann, to whom the work was dedicated, never performed it publicly. It wasn’t until the 1930s, when Vladimir Horowitz took it up, that the concerto began to receive the recognition it deserved. Today it stands as a cornerstone of the Romantic concerto tradition, its reputation for technical challenge matched only by its sweeping lyricism and emotional range.

The work opens with a simple, haunting theme played in octaves by the soloist. “It simply ‘wrote itself,’” Rachmaninoff recalled. This melody – subdued, even tentative – becomes the seed from which the entire piece grows. The first movement unfolds in waves, alternating between introspection and explosive virtuosity. A second, more lyrical theme offers contrast, and the massive cadenza, among the most difficult in the repertoire, weaves together both themes into a thundering, climactic moment. The movement ends with a quiet coda, a moment of breath after a long ascent.

The second movement, marked Intermezzo: Adagio, opens with a sighing theme in the winds. The piano enters with a chromatic lament, soon evolving into something warmer and dreamlike. The middle section – Scherzando – is light, animated, and filled with dazzling figuration for the soloist. This material,  however, grows out of the first movement’s main theme, giving the concerto a sense of thematic unity. As the second movement closes, it flows seamlessly into the finale.

The third movement bursts forth with energy. Its principal theme, based on a bold rhythmic motive, recalls a Russian dance. But true to Rachmaninoff’s architectural instinct, the development is anything but straightforward. The movement is a set of variations – not just on new material, but on ideas from earlier in the concerto, especially the lyrical second theme of the first movement. This cyclical structure lends the piece a sense of organic wholeness, as if the music has grown naturally from a single seed. The climactic reprise is thrilling: soaring piano lines, pounding chords, and a relentless drive culminate in a blazing Presto coda, ending with a rhythmic signature that many believe mimics the syllables of the composer’s name.

Rachmaninoff’s Third is not only a staggering display of pianistic prowess; it is also a deeply expressive, soul-searching journey. The work reveals the composer’s capacity to merge discipline with passion, architecture with emotional immediacy. It is music of longing, grandeur, and fire – and a monument to the Romantic spirit in a rapidly changing world.

Instrumentation – two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings, and solo piano

Duration – 39 minutes

~ Kenneth Bean
Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor
Princeton Symphony Orchestra