Paganini's Ubiquitous Theme

An inspiration for works by Liszt, Brahms, Schumann, and most famously Rachmaninov, the last caprice of Paganini’s 24 (opus 1) has had a well-cited life over the last century and a half. Other composers, less famous today but celebrated in their time such as Mark Hambourg and Ignaz Friedman also wrote paraphrases on the theme. This theme continues to be “varied” today, with the “Song and Dance” of Andrew Lloyd Webber being a famous example, and influence is seen in numerous other rock/pop writers. The 24^th caprice itself is in theme and variations form, lending itself to new interpretations and homage. Theme and variations is perhaps my favorite form because of the different twists and colors each new composer adds to the original, while still remaining recognizable. Here are some of my favorite takes on the 24^th caprice, both famous and less well-known.

To start off, here is Itzhak Perlman with the original. Perlman is possibly my favorite violinist ever (not a group I’m terribly familiar with, but regardless), with impeccable technique and considerable, friendly charm. Paganini’s 24^th caprice is in A minor, fast and agile, and presents numerous technical demands on the violinist. When transplanted to a different instrument or orchestrated, the caprice’s theme loses some of its diabolical technique but none of its explosive energy and hair’s edge precision. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM3Qfhd7dAw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9zYrBW9jVQ + http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZJtwdFOoi8&feature=related Ignaz Friedman opens our set of Paganini variations, quoting the theme and varying it in 17 concert studies in A minor. Friedman was a fantastic Polish virtuoso pianist who often wrote concert transcriptions of opera arias or canonical repertoire. He lived from 1882 to 1948, making him a contemporary of the next composer on the list: Sergei Rachmaninoff, who wrote perhaps the most famous piece based on the Paganini caprice.

Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini” gets a lot of airplay on today’s “easy listening” classical radio stations, and still gets featured in film soundtracks. The most memorable use in film (for me) was in the 1980 film “Somewhere in Time” with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, set in a grand turn-of-the-century hotel. Here’s a clip of the music itself as it appeared in the movie, as Reeve is musing on the lovely actress Seymour. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4N1mxN5JbU He happens to have fallen in love with her across time, but time travel is no match for their love (though doomed). The film is based on a Richard Matheson novel Bid Time Return and uses the 18^th variation, a theme with long lines and sentimental grandeur made for Hollywood (which Rachmaninoff knew, calling this variation “a theme for my producer”) though the equivalent in Matheson’s novel is a Mahler symphony. Interestingly, Matheson is better known for having written I am Legend. The 18^th variation is the most famous of Rachmaninoff’s set, which follows a loose concerto form (fast-slow-fast, with the introduction and 1^st variation placed before the theme appears) and features a piano soloist. Rachmaninoff, like Friedman, brings a virtuosic element to the piano, and casts the homage to Paganini in gigantic Rachmaninoff concrete-and-steel style. When the 18^th variation arrives, the piece has moved in the slow section to Db major and the theme is inverted; it is still a massive, crashing section in terms of what the piano is actually doing, but the orchestra softens the edges and creates the lush romantic atmosphere for which we love this piece. 

Finally, no less a composer than Johannes Brahms (unlike others mentioned here including Paganini himself, a composer of “serious,” German non-”brillant” music) wrote a set of variations on this theme. http://www.kellydeanhansen.com/opus35.html Here is a link with extensive detail regarding each variation, and links for Evgeny Kissin’s rendition on YouTube. Brahms’ variations are of the same cloth as Rachmaninoff’s – the piano here has a big and dense sound, with many shadings of color and sound. These variations are also entitled “Studies,” a title that draws attention to the various pianistic challenges in this work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fihjGJ0Brw0

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcOeXpV5uzU&feature=related

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw3VjY4rda8

Waiting Music

At one point of my life before UNH, I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms. Two albums which kept me company through those times are still my favorites today, and they hold special meaning from the time I spent waiting and listening.

Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (Karajan, Ghiaurov)

Ghiaurov is, as I have mentioned elsewhere (http://majoringinunhstudies.blogspot.com/2011/05/prima-la-musica-dopo-le-parole-or-opera.html) one of my favorite singers of all time. His magisterial bass was smooth and intense, with a real bite to the attacks - he was trained in Italy as well as his native Bulgaria, and the legato phrasing he brought to Russian opera is a great gift. Even before Ghiaurov makes his first entrance with the monologue at Boris’ coronation, however, the music for the chorus resonates with me. They too are waiting, considerably more uncomfortable than I, out in the Russian winter outside the palace, and they are waiting for their “father” to come and save them – they wish for Boris to ascend to the throne and remember the Russian people. They pray dutifully, seemingly without much hope of fulfillment. The chorus is answered indirectly, by Shchelkalov, a minor official who takes up the themes of their dissatisfaction and hope but cannot promise that Boris will accede. He sings a short monologue of a few lines which are some of the most reassuring in opera; reassuring, yet realistic in their limited optimism. In my time waiting in March 2007 I listened to these scenes from the Prologue over and over, enjoying Mussorgsky’s sympathetic harmonies.

Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem (Maazel, Prey, Cotrubas)

A requiem which is not in Latin, and does not use the Requiem text, Brahms’ is a Requiem in name only. The main theme of a Latin Requiem is death and eternal damnation from which we pray to be saved, but the theme of Brahms’ Requiem is comfort for those left behind. As one not yet left behind, this piece was key to the beginning of my grieving my father before he had actually gone. Nearly everything in the Requiem is oriented toward this process of grieving, with the solos especially moving in their recognition of realistic emotions. The Requiem is a particular kind of dark music which is not morbid but knows that there are times in winter when there is less sunlight around, just as it knows that there will be a spring. The last movement, I feel, can see that spring as the year turns.