RACHMANINOFF 3
Siberia, or executed for lesser“ offenses?” In 1937, he restored his public reputation with the premiere of his latest large-scale work— the more conservative Fifth Symphony, presented as“ a Soviet artist’ s reply to just criticism.”
With Stalin’ s death in 1953, Shostakovich regained some semblance of security, but he remained cognizant of his fraught position. Less than a year later, he composed his Festive Overture in just three days on a rush commission from the Bolshoi Theatre. More pseudo-propagandistic compositions followed, both for the concert stage and film. In 1960, Shostakovich joined the Communist Party and also became the symbolic figurehead— officially,“ Chairman”— of the Union of Composers of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.
Was Shostakovich truly aligned with the Party line or was he merely an embattled conformist? Most scholars agree that he was a survivor navigating an oppressive system, infusing his music with subversive irony. Nonetheless, when he died in 1975, Pravda commemorated Shostakovich as a“ loyal son of the Communist Party” who had“ devoted his life to the development of Soviet music.” The obituary was signed by the highest governing bodies of the Soviet Union, as well as by the Union of Soviet Composers— institutions that had condemned and denounced Shostakovich during his lifetime.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, three oboes, three clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, triangle, cymbals( pair), bass drum, and strings.
Billy Childs
Born: March 8, 1957, in Los Angeles, California Resides in Los Angeles, California
CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND CLARINET [ 2 026 ] World premiere, BSO co-commission
Instrumentation: Solo flute and clarinet, three flutes( one doubling alto flute and piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, percussion, timpani, harp, piano, celeste, and strings.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Born: April 1, 1873, in Semyonovo, Staraya Russa, Russian Empire Died: March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hills, California
SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN A MINOR, OP. 44 [ 1935 – 1936 ]
Sergei Rachmaninoff’ s career was far from a smooth upward trajectory, interrupted by war, frustrated by financial anxieties, and beset by recurring self-doubt and depression. More than once did he lament the state of his“ ruined life.”
Rachmaninoff felt keenly the psychological consequences of external forces. Artistically, any critical failure— such as the storied premiere of his First Symphony, conducted by a quite probably inebriated conductor— provoked a period of crippling self-doubt and apathy during which he struggled to compose. A public success, on the other hand— such as the triumphs of his Second Piano Concerto and later his Second Symphony would renew his drive to compose.
Self-imposed exile from his homeland in 1917 only further imperiled his creative output. A member of Russia’ s dispossessed elite, he fled the upheaval brought on by the Bolsheviks for his family’ s safety, living between the U. S. and his villa in Switzerland for the remaining 26 years of his life. Later on, he reflected that in“ losing my country, I lost myself also.” Rachmaninoff’ s compositional output slowed— only six further compositions would follow, including the present Third Symphony.
Rachmaninoff began composing this Symphony in May 1935 on a high from the success of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, written the previous summer at his newly-constructed retreat on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, Villa Senar. By late summer 1935, Rachmaninoff had completed twothirds of the work, but he was unsatisfied that he had been unable to complete the rest. Ill health had compelled him to take a cure of“ pine-electrical baths,” rest, and massage, and he was greatly frustrated by this latest obstacle. Autumn would bring performing obligations that would further keep him from compositional work. Bemoaning such setbacks, he lamented:“ When I had health, I possessed extraordinary laziness; as that begins to disappear, all I can think of is work. […] I have not done all I could have done in my lifetime, and this realization will not make my remaining days happy.” Rachmaninoff did finish his score on June 29, 1936. Five months later, it had its premiere with Leopold Stokowski and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Relieved, Rachmaninoff could think only of the divine:“ With all my thoughts I thank God that I was able to do it!”
Although Rachmaninoff enjoyed significant wealth from his concert career, he nevertheless spent his final years dissatisfied with his limited compositional output and grieving the loss of his homeland. After the Third Symphony, he composed only one further work: the 1943 Symphonic Dances. Rachmaninoff died that same year in Beverly Hills, California, of melanoma.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, suspended cymbal, bass drum, xylophone, snare drum, tam tam, triangle, cymbals, harp, celeste, and strings.
HEATHER O’ DONOVAN is a vocalist and writer whose program notes have appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Manhattan School of Music, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She is the dramaturg and librettist of Princess Ida: The Glow Up, an award-winning Gilbert & Sullivan adaptation premiered by the Manhattan School of Music Undergraduate Opera Theatre in spring 2025 and is in the process of developing the libretto for her first full-length opera.
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