Rachmaninov Piano Trio élégiaque no. 1 in G minor

Well, I haven't written a blog post in some time! As my New Year's resolution, I plan to have one blog post up a week- on or by Wednesday of each week. When I first started this blog in May, I kept up with it by posting everyday. Now that I'm a college student that is just too much to keep up with. But then, I did start full-out neglecting my blog- which is a shame because it is a great way for me to learn more about music while educating and/or entertaining others at the same time.

So, I'm back with a vengeance... and some Rachmaninov! Music by Sergei Rachmaninov (also spelled Rachmaninoff) has never been discussed on this blog. Now that I am home, I have a couple resources sitting in my bookshelf to help me- and you (my readers)- learn a little more about the history of the composers and the music discussed on this blog.

Sergei Rachmaninov was born in Oneg Russia, April 1, 1873 and demonstrated musical talent at young age, entering the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1882. However, the young Rachmaninov proved to be an idle student, and as advised by his cousin, he was taken to Moscow to study at the Moscow Conservatory. There Rachmaninov came under the influence of Nikolai Zverev, "a severe taskmaster, who proved successful in disciplining the boy to a systematic study and inflaming his passion for music." Rachmaninov graduated from the Moscow conservatory as a pianist in 1891 and as a composer in 1892.

Rachmaninov wrote two Trios named élégiaque. This first one in G minor was written while Rachmaninov was finishing his degree at the Moscow conservatory. It is obviously influenced by Tchaikovsky's style, and the second Trio élégiaque was dedicated to Tchaikovsky after his death. This trio is written as one 15 minute movement and there are 12 changes of meter throughout it.

Over Winter Break I treated myself to some new CD's one of which being a Deutsche Grammophon recording of Lang Lang, Vadim Repin and Mischa Maisky playing Rachmaninov's Trio élégiaque No. 1 and Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio in A minor op. 50. I like this recording very much, and I suggest you buy it. However, I like to leave my readers with a youtube link to each piece.

This is a recording of Nino Gvetadze, Liviu Prunaru and Godfried Hoogeveen playing live in Amsterdam.

Part I

Part II

You'll notice that I talked more about the history of the piece today and less about my interpretation of the piece. Please let me know your thoughts- and I leave you with one of Lang Lang's: "When Mischa and Vadim begin playing, it feels like a time machine starting, and after the first few notes you are inside its world." (taken from the album cover's notes)

You can find the score HERE to follow along with the music