Variations on a Theme of Corelli (Russian: Вариации на тему А. Корелли, Variatsii na temu A. Korelli), Op. 42, is a set of variations for solo piano, written in 1931 by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. He composed the variations at his holiday home in Switzerland.
Rachmaninoff dedicated the work to his friend, the violinist Fritz Kreisler. He wrote to another friend, the composer Nikolai Medtner, on 21 December 1931:[1]
I've played the Variations about fifteen times, but of these fifteen performances only one was good. The others were sloppy. I can't play my own compositions! And it's so boring! Not once have I played these all in continuity. I was guided by the coughing of the audience. Whenever the coughing would increase, I would skip the next variation. Whenever there was no coughing, I would play them in proper order. In one concert, I don't remember where - some small town - the coughing was so violent that I played only ten variations (out of 20). My best record was set in New York, where I played 18 variations. However, I hope that you will play all of them, and won't "cough".
Rachmaninoff recorded many of his own works, but this piece wasn't one of them.[2]
The Theme is followed by 20 variations, an Intermezzo between variations 13 and 14, and a Coda to finish. All variations are in D minor except where noted.
variations, theme, corelli, russian, Вариации, на, тему, Корелли, variatsii, temu, korelli, variations, solo, piano, written, 1931, russian, composer, sergei, rachmaninoff, composed, variations, holiday, home, switzerland, rachmaninoff, corelli, theme, theme, . Variations on a Theme of Corelli Russian Variacii na temu A Korelli Variatsii na temu A Korelli Op 42 is a set of variations for solo piano written in 1931 by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff He composed the variations at his holiday home in Switzerland Rachmaninoff Corelli theme The theme is La Folia which was not in fact composed by Arcangelo Corelli but was used by him in 1700 as the basis for 23 variations in his Sonata for violin and continuo violone and or harpsichord in D minor Op 5 No 12 La Folia was popularly used as the basis for variations in Baroque music Franz Liszt used the same theme in his Rhapsodie espagnole S 254 1863 Rachmaninoff dedicated the work to his friend the violinist Fritz Kreisler He wrote to another friend the composer Nikolai Medtner on 21 December 1931 1 I ve played the Variations about fifteen times but of these fifteen performances only one was good The others were sloppy I can t play my own compositions And it s so boring Not once have I played these all in continuity I was guided by the coughing of the audience Whenever the coughing would increase I would skip the next variation Whenever there was no coughing I would play them in proper order In one concert I don t remember where some small town the coughing was so violent that I played only ten variations out of 20 My best record was set in New York where I played 18 variations However I hope that you will play all of them and won t cough Rachmaninoff recorded many of his own works but this piece wasn t one of them 2 Contents 1 Structure 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksStructure editThe Theme is followed by 20 variations an Intermezzo between variations 13 and 14 and a Coda to finish All variations are in D minor except where noted Theme Andante Variation 1 Poco piu mosso Variation 2 L istesso tempo Variation 3 Tempo di Minuetto Variation 4 Andante Variation 5 Allegro ma non tanto Variation 6 L istesso tempo Variation 7 Vivace Variation 8 Adagio misterioso Variation 9 Un poco piu mosso Variation 10 Allegro scherzando Variation 11 Allegro vivace Variation 12 L istesso tempo Variation 13 Agitato Intermezzo Variation 14 Andante come prima D major Variation 15 L istesso tempo D major Variation 16 Allegro vivace Variation 17 Meno mosso Variation 18 Allegro con brio Variation 19 Piu mosso Agitato Variation 20 Piu mosso Coda AndanteSee also editList of variations on a theme by another composerReferences edit R D Darrell Liner notes to VOX SVBX 5456 Rachmaninoff Piano Music Volume 1 Michael Ponti pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff Discography of American Historical Recordings Retrieved 2023 10 25 External links editVariations on a Theme of Corelli Op 42 Scores at the International Music Score Library Project in Russian Piano ru Sheet music download in Russian Chubrik ru Audio download nbsp This article about a classical composition is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Variations on a Theme of Corelli amp oldid 1181804559, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
