Symphonic Dances (Rachmaninoff)

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45, is an orchestral suite in three movements completed in October 1940 by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. It is his final major composition, and his only piece written in its entirety while living in the United States.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

The work allowed him to indulge in a nostalgia for the Russia he had known, as much as he had done in the Symphony No. 3, as well as to effectively sum up his lifelong fascination with ecclesiastical chants. In the first dance, he quotes the opening theme of his Symphony No. 1, itself derived from motifs characteristic of Russian church music. In the finale he quotes both the Dies irae and the chant "Blessed art thou, Lord" ("Blagosloven yesi, Gospodi") from his All-Night Vigil.

Background

Rachmaninoff composed the Symphonic Dances four years after his Third Symphony, mostly at the Honeyman estate, "Orchard Point", in Centerport, New York, overlooking Long Island Sound. Its original name was Fantastic Dances, with movement titles of "Noon", "Twilight", and "Midnight". While the composer had written to conductor Eugene Ormandy in late August 1940 that the piece was finished and needed only to be orchestrated, the manuscript for the full score bears completion dates of September and October 1940. It was premiered by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to whom it is dedicated, on January 3, 1941.

The work is fully representative of the composer's later style with its curious, shifting harmonies, the almost Prokofiev-like grotesquerie of the outer movements and the focus on individual instrumental tone colors throughout (highlighted by his use of an alto saxophone in the opening dance). The opening three-note motif, introduced quietly but soon reinforced by heavily staccato chords and responsible for much of the movement's rhythmic vitality, is reminiscent of the Queen of Shemakha's theme in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel, the only music by another composer that he had taken out of Russia with him in 1917.

The Symphonic Dances combine energetic rhythmic sections, reminiscent of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, with some of the composer's lushest harmonies. The rhythmic vivacity, a characteristic of Rachmaninoff's late style, may have been further heightened here for two reasons. First, he had been encouraged by the success of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as a ballet in 1939 and wanted to write something with which to follow it up. Second, he may have included material intended for a ballet titled The Scythians, begun in 1914–15 but abandoned before he left Russia. While no manuscript for the ballet is known to have survived, this does not make his quoting the work inconceivable, given Rachmaninoff's remarkable memory. He could remember and play back accurately pieces he had heard years earlier, even those he had heard only once.

The work is remarkable for its use of the alto saxophone as a solo instrument. Rachmaninoff was apparently advised as to its use by the American orchestrator and composer Robert Russell Bennett. The composition includes several quotations from Rachmaninoff's other works, and can be regarded as a summing-up of his entire career as a composer. The first dance ends with a modified quotation from his unfortunate First Symphony (1897), here nostalgically rendered in a major key. The ghostly second dance was called "dusk" in some sketches. The final dance is a kind of struggle between the Dies Irae theme, representing Death, and a quotation from the ninth movement of his All-night Vigil (1915), representing Resurrection (the lyrics of the All-night Vigil's ninth movement in fact narrate mourners' discovery of Christ's empty grave and the Risen Lord). The Resurrection theme proves victorious in the end (he wrote the word "Hallelujah" at this place in the score).

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, side drum, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, harp, piano, and strings.

Movements

1. (Non) allegro (C minor – C major)

   

2. Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) (G minor)
   
3. Lento assai – Allegro vivace – Lento assai. Come prima – Allegro vivace (D minor – D major)
   

Arrangements

Two pianos

Rachmaninoff wrote an arrangement for two pianos concurrently with the orchestral version. This arrangement was first performed by the composer with Vladimir Horowitz at a private party in Beverly Hills, California, in August 1942.

The two-piano arrangement was featured on the 2024 Deutsche Grammophon album Rachmaninoff for Two by Sergei Babayan and Daniil Trifonov.

Ballet

The name Symphonic Dances suggests that the composition can be danced to. Rachmaninoff corresponded with choreographer Michel Fokine about possibly creating a ballet from the Dances. He played the composition for Fokine on the piano; the choreographer responded enthusiastically. Fokine's death in August 1942 put an end to any possible collaboration in this direction.

In the 1980s, Joseph Albano choreographed the dances for the Albano Ballet in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1991, Salvatore Aiello choreographed the Symphonic Dances for the North Carolina Dance Theater. Peter Martins did so in 1994 for the New York City Ballet. Alexei Ratmansky choreographed Symphonic Dances for Miami City Ballet in 2012.Edwaard Liang did so in 2012 for the San Francisco Ballet. Liam Scarlett, as Artist In Residence choreographed the Symphonic Dances for The Royal Ballet, performed as part of a Quad billing at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, in 2017.

Two organs

There exists a transcription of the entire piece by French composer/performer Jean Guillou, written for two organs.

Piano solo

Pianist Inon Barnatan transcribed the work himself and recorded it in 2023. There also exists a recording of Rachmaninoff playing through the piano reduction for Eugene Ormandy, during which he sings, whistles and talks about how he thinks the Dances should be performed. Rachmaninoff played the first movement coda differently from the score; these minor changes were reproduced by the pianist Stephen Kovacevich when he performed the work with Martha Argerich at his 75th birthday concert at Wigmore Hall.

Recordings

1. Eugene Ormandy, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra
2. Dimitri Mitropoulos, conducting the New York Philharmonic (1942)
3. Nikolai Golovanov, conducting the USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra, (1944 – 1st and 3rd movements, 1949 – 2nd movement)
4. Yevgeny Svetlanov, conducting the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation
5. Kirill Kondrashin, conducting the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
6. Kirill Kondrashin, conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra (Concertgebouw, 1976)
7. Mariss Jansons, conducting the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
8. Yuri Temirkanov, conducting the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
9. André Previn, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
10. Vladimir Ashkenazy, conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra
11. Lorin Maazel, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic
12. Sergiu Comissiona, conducting the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
13. Eiji Oue, conducting the Minnesota Orchestra
14. Predrag Gosta, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
15. Enrique Bátiz, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
16. Robert Spano, conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
17. Donald Johanos, conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
18. Eugene Goossens, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
19. Simon Rattle, conducting the Berlin Philharmonic
20. Martha Argerich and Nelson Goerner, at Edinburgh International Festival 2011 (version for two pianos)
21. Nina Schumann and Luis Magalhães, TwoPianists Records (version for two pianos)
22. Valery Gergiev, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra
23. Semyon Bychkov, conducting the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
24. Valery Polyansky, conducting the State Symphony Capella of Russia
25. Charles Mackerras, conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
26. Erich Leinsdorf, conducting the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
27. Leonard Slatkin, conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
28. Vladimir Ashkenazy and André Previn, Decca Records (version for two pianos)
29. Martha Argerich and Nelson Freire, at Salzburg Festival 2009 (version for two pianos)
30. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, 2021
31. John Eliot Gardiner, conducting the NDR Sinfonieorchester
32. Vasily Petrenko, conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in 2008

Notes

Sources

• Harrison, Max (2006). Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-9312-2.
• Maes, Francis (2002). A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar. Translated by Arnold J. Pomerans; Erica Pomerans. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21815-9.
• Norris, Gregory (1980). Stanley Sadie (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (20 vols.) (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-23111-2.
• Schonberg, Harold (1985). The Virtuosi: Classical Music's Great Performers From Paganini to Pavarotti. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-394-75532-4.

Further reading

• David Brown, Liner notes to Deutsche Grammophon recording conducted by Mikhail Pletnev
• Liner notes to Reference Recordings recording conducted by Eiji Oue

External links

• Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (Rachmaninoff): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Recording on 2 Pianos, Pandora Records
• Rachmaninov and the Day of Wrath, inkpot.com
• "Program notes", San Francisco Symphony, by Michael Steinberg