Lovely to hear. I didn't know these pieces. I did know that Rachmaninoff wrote almost nothing for solo violin. Rachmaninoff, Heifetz and Piatagorsky (sp?) used to socialize and play together. One day Heifetz said to Rachmaninoff "Why do you never write for the violin?", to which Rachmaninoff replied "Why would I, when I have the cello!".
This is not "Rachmaninoff's only original work for violin and piano". His first composition (that we know about) is actually another lovely romance for piano and violin in a minor!
Szergej Rachmaninov:Két darab Op.6 1.Románc (Andante ma non troppo - Tempo I) 00:00 Lydia Mordkovitch-hegedű Marina Gusak-Grin-zongora 2.Magyar tánc (Vivace - Un poco meno mosso - Meno mosso - Vivace - Un poco meno mosso - L'istesso tempo) 06:20 Kyung Wha Chung-hegedű itamar Golan-zongora
perhaps his least known work- the sparkling wit of the dance? it's evident often in r's work- i am glad he stuck to his melancholy guns mostly- this world is too cheerful (falsely so) (does not plumb the "blues" enough)
Well put! I too am drawn to his realism about it all being too cheery. It takes a real intellect like him to understand that and convey it through music. They say knowledge multiplies sadness, and ignorance is a "blessing."
I’d probably call this the most obscure Rachmaninoff work. If not this, then Francesca da Rimini. I know the Hungarian dance was hard to find on Spotify
Comments that dislike pieces are often sent to the bottom of the comments section, but I must say: from a pianist’s point of view, the romance is one of the most boring pieces out there. Rachmaninov in later works has showed that he knows how to make chamber music that is equally satisfying for all parties, so I suppose in this early work he just didn’t know how to yet because the piano is relegated to harmonic background music apart from that one small section where the piano gets the melody. The piece sounds wonderful and sweet and had rich harmonies, which is so damn impressive from an early Rachmaninov, but the piano writing is not very fun and we must consider the player’s point of view as well as the listener’s too. This piece almost turned me off chamber music and Rachmaninov in general… luckily I learnt that this was just an exception to his amazing piano output. Even the second piece here is more fun than the Romance, though the piano is still only an accompanist rather than a partner. That’s the perfect description for this pair of pieces - the piano is an accompanist rather than a partner.
That is completely par for the course in any kind of short piano accompanied chamber piece, and you'll find the same "boring" piano accompaniments in Mozart's chamber works, almost all of his contemporaries', some of Beethoven's, hundreds of songs by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, and in general, short pieces by almost all romantic composers, from Saint-Saens to Strauss.
