Rachmaninoff Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Chopin Sonatas Nos 2 & 3

Featuring

Peter Donohoe
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Frédéric Chopin

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Compositional Technique

Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Chopin dedicates the set to virtuoso piano teacher Theodor Leschetizky and features pianistic novelties at the outer limits of technical difficulty.

Compositional Technique

The final variation of Rachmaninoff's Chopin Variations features an alternation between the notes C and D, which scholars suggest may be Rachmaninoff's musical signature.

Composer Biography

Rachmaninoff's public performances were bookended by Chopin's Second Sonata, which he played at his graduation recital in 1892 and his last recital in 1943.

Performer Biography

Peter Donohoe, acclaimed as one of the foremost pianists of our time, was a joint winner of the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Composer Biography

Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor while recovering from illness in Mallorca, where he experienced ghostly visions in a secluded monastery he called his 'coffin'.

Compositional Technique

Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Chopin incorporates the 'Dies Irae' motif, a famous Romantic symbol of death from Gregorian chants, particularly in variations 15 and 17.

Composition History

Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Chopin uses the C minor Prelude from Chopin's Op. 28 as its theme, chosen for its austere, chordal style and associations with death.