Before writing Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Rachmaninov completed dead island, a masterpiece of19th century music poetry, which is a gloomy masterpiece in music history. Its position in19th century is like Schoenberg's Night of Sublimation, and the intensity of death reminds people of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's symphony Pathetique. Shortly after the premiere of dead island, Rakhmaninov became the vice chairman of the Russian Royal Concert, and his performance in the United States was invited by one of his American friends, Henry Wolff. Rachmaninov was not very happy to embark on this tiring journey. However, he thought of the trains in this new land of the United States and the bustling commercial atmosphere in the streets of new york. Rachmaninov, who just walked out of the bloody scene of the February Revolution, felt that he seemed to lack "material" enjoyment, and he even planned to buy a car with the income from this trip to the United States. I once saw a picture of Rachmaninov leaning against the piano. This is a tall Rachmaninov (2 meters high) and an equally tall and generous piano. The face is slightly longer and the expression is serious. There is no innocent eyes like Pushkin, a great Russian romantic poet, and there is no thick beard peculiar to Russians. He looks like an English gentleman. Rachmaninov was born in a very prominent family. His grandfather spent half his life as a general and his father was an officer. The name Rachmaninov comes from Rahmani, which means "kindness" and "generosity" in Russian.
Rakhmaninov is an aristocrat in Moscow, but as a musician, his music belongs to the Russian people, just like Tolstoy, a novelist born in the nobility, and Akhmatova, a poetess born in the royal family, instead of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, who was funded by women all his life.
Rachmaninov practiced "The Third Piano Music" on a transatlantic ship. After arriving in the United States, his patrons, the Walson family, arranged 20 concerts for him. The third performance of this piece was conducted by gustav mahler, the newly appointed music director of new york Philharmonic, and two musicians stood together. We should remember1965438+65438 in00+16 October-two broad rivers of German and Russian music converge. Although their meeting did not become a myth as Beethoven met Mozart in the18th century, it was a blessing for lovers living in the 20th century.
The conception of the third piano concerto is a continuation of the second piano concerto to a great extent, such as their full emotions and boiling vitality. The third piano concerto is a dramatic work full of tension. Rachmaninov's style appeared in the third piano concerto, and various piano techniques were interwoven in his works. Light cadenza passages, passages, two tones, dense polyphonic texture, fast staccato and a large number of major chords. Just like a modernist novelist's writing skills, metaphors, symbols, stream of consciousness and surrealism, all the skills are for work. The first theme of the first movement of the concerto was led out by a very old Russian ritual song. Anyone who has come into contact with Pushkin's poems or Tolstoy's novels-even if he has never heard of Rachmaninov, such a gentle, warm and thoughtful melody can't help but make him sleepy, thinking of the flute of Russian shepherds rising in the summer countryside sky and the endless quiet prairie. This theme of singing has become the most charming melody of Rachmaninov and the warmest sunshine in the 20th century. Russians hear it just as Czechs hear the "day and night flowing" of the Volta River in Bedrich Smetana's My Motherland, and China people hear the "moonlight in the pine forest" in Two Springs Reflecting the Moon. However, this poetic theme soon lost its pastoral flavor. It gradually developed in the first and second movements, and many interference factors were added. The singing piano turned into a contemplative piano, and the beautiful Russian stream began to flow into the magnificent Volga River. With the violent marching of brass instruments, the piano became a heavy hammer, and all the excitement, anger, anxiety, fear, disappointment, struggle and mourning were held high. The protagonist in the Australian film "The Pianist" fainted on the spot at the concert playing the third piano concerto. You can imagine the power of the work to knock down the pianist!
Rakhmaninov's visit to the United States on 1909 was a prelude to his future settlement in the United States to avoid civil war and political disaster. This Piano Concerto No.3 was chosen as its last drummer by The Times. Rachmaninov joined the ranks of exiles. He will be not only a musician, but also a spokesman for human conscience and morality in the 20th century! As Keats said, "You are far away among mankind." Disappear to humans and people. It is difficult to escape from the original crowd, but it is a silent protest against the existing environment. In less than a minute, broschi described his experience of getting up and walking out of school in a class on a winter morning. He remembers that what dominated his mood at that moment was a sense of disgust, which had been growing and controlled by everything around him. In addition, "there is a hazy but happy feeling caused by escape, and the sunny streets that the eyes can see." On the one hand, it is the scenery of Russia, on the other hand, it is the spring of Russia, on the other hand, it is the forests and lakes of Russia, on the other hand, it is the Russian people who died of hunger and cold due to artillery fire. A nation that gave birth to great writers and musicians such as Chekhov, Nikolai Nikolai Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Bao Luoting, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Limsky-Kosakov is about to collapse. When brodsky accepted Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987, he said sadly: "In Russia, it (civilization) has ended; If I want to say that it ended in tragedy, then the first basis is the number of people's sacrifices and the subsequent social and historical changes that took them away. In a real tragedy, it is not the protagonist who dies-it is the chorus. "
Rachmaninov knows that he can't get rid of the old tradition of Russian culture, which has penetrated into all parts of his body like blood. Even if he lives in America, the lyrical and tragic image of Russian music will always rise in his fingers. In Piano Concerto No.3, Rachmaninov sang Russian winter affectionately, which was 18 12 sung by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky and the land of post-war peace sung by Tolstoy.
We call RACHmaninov's Piano Concerto No.3 "La San" for short, but it is also called "Rach III" in Europe for short, which coincides with a kind of love besides practical factors. Just like we call our friends by their nicknames. Rachmaninov is a legend. The creative process of his first three piano concertos can be said to be accompanied by the greatest pain and joy in his life. Fortunately, he remembered the bitterness first, and then thought about the sweetness. Now I can't understand people's appreciation taste at the end of 19, especially the music habits combined with the ideological background of the times. What surprises us now is that a work that is not so excellent as Ira was praised by the fifth edition of the Grove Music Dictionary at that time as: "In Rachmaninov's life, some extremely popular works seem to be difficult to last." This kind of straightforward comment hit Rachmaninov so hard that he didn't pick up a pen to compose music for almost three years.
One person who needs to be mentioned is lev tolstoy. When Rachmaninov needed strength from his heart and thoughts, his friends introduced him to the author of War and Peace. Old Tolstoy, who was almost 70 years old at that time, said to him, "Young man, can you imagine that everything is going well in my life?" Can you assume that I have no worries, never hesitate and never lose confidence? Do you really think that confidence is always equal to strength? In fact, each of us will encounter difficulties sometimes, but this is life! Hold your head high and stick to the path you want to take. "
This passage now seems to be the quotation of Rainbow Guozhen, which restored a lot of confidence to Rachmaninov, but later he and old Tolstoy had different views on art songs and broke up in discord. Later, Rachmaninov's deep remorse evolved into seeing a psychiatrist, and he was recommended to Dr. Dahl. Under the treatment of hypnotherapy, Rachmaninov passed the most painful stage in his life, and he gradually moved towards happiness in the following time: his second piano concerto was a great success, and then, some time before and after he went to the United States for development, he wrote the most brilliant piece of music in his life-Lasan, and found a bosom friend in the new world of the new century. It is not only difficult to play, but also jaw-dropping.
There is no need to give you a detailed explanation. As a modern person, even if you have never touched this piece of music, you only need to listen to it carefully for three times, and you will be completely fascinated by its melody weaving. It is a great enjoyment to experience the ups and downs brought by roller coasters.
When listening to La San, it seems that every note is in its ideal position. Under careful command, it is lit in stages and batches. One moment is like the splendor of the National Day fireworks, and the other moment is like the quiet night sky when the first batch and the second batch of fireworks start to be loaded. You will wait for those things to take off again in a new form. You don't know how wonderful the next time will be, because every time you listen, the highlight at the climax is not the last experience. It may be better or worse, and it will be new every time.
I once compared Larson to the waves. It seems that when you are at the seaside and see the calm sea, some small waves begin to appear, and then you see some white waves one after another. At this time, the waves are even bigger. When you feel the power of the wind, you find that the sea in front of you is no longer calm, waves two or three meters high begin to appear, and heavy rain falls on your head. When you feel these things to your heart's content, you are thinking that these things will turn into huge waves dozens of stories high. Everything calmed down, and after a storm, the sea began to calm down again. Even you see more swimmers on the beach. In the blue sky and white clouds, something appeared on the horizon, which was very fast. At this time, when people saw what it was, a huge wave similar to Zhongtian Square appeared in front of them, accompanied by the still calm sea around. Think about that strange shock and the next wave. Swallowed it happily. Your crying turned into foam, and you lost your support and floated in the deep blue.