Piano Concerto No. 3

Piano Concerto No.3 in D Minor, Op. 30

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

Date of publication: 1909

Following the successes of his second Piano Concerto and Variations on a Theme of Chopin, Rachmaninoff was invited to tour in the US. He accepted the offer. In the summer of 1909, he moved to his country house, Ivanovka, and began composing his third Piano Concerto.

The calm and secluded countryside was a breath of much needed fresh air for Rachmaninoff. He regularly walked for hours at a time and was perceptive to the tiny details in nature. His “eye [caught] the sharp sparks of light on fresh foliage after showers; [his] ears the rustling undernote of the woods. Or [he watched] the pale tints of the sky over the horizon after sundown, and they come: all voices at once. Not a bit here, a bit there. All”.

The coinciding elements of nature inspired the third Piano Concerto. Rachmaninoff weaved in multiple themes simultaneously. He conversed through them like birds chirping in the morning. And he blended them into one another, pushing towards a climax. In fact, nature drove the piece to such a degree that Rachmaninoff claimed the melody “wrote itself”.

After finishing the piece on September 23, 1909, Rachmaninoff had to leave for America. He left with no time to practice the piece in Russia. While on a ship to the US, Rachmaninoff didn’t want anyone else to hear what he had composed. So, he practiced on a silent keyboard. Despite this, the premiere was a success. Rachmaninoff played with the New York Symphony on November 28 in New Theatre in Manhattan. Critics praised the piece and Mahler even offered to conduct the concerto with Rachmaninoff as the soloist. Rachmaninoff accepted Mahler’s offer and they performed in New York on January 16, the following year.

To no surprise, Rachmaninoff wrote the piece in a minor key -- most of his pieces were. Rachmaninoff probably empathized with the melancholic minors due to his lifelong battle with depression. However, despite choosing the “saddest” key of D minor, the concerto is by no means subdued. Triumphant and bombastic passages are littered everywhere, especially in the third movement. The first movement has practically everything: an iconic melancholy melody, twisting developments, resounding climaxes - you name it. The second juxtaposes a dreamy and distant theme and variations with a scherzo-like waltz. The third is a turbulent and energetic fanfare that concludes with intense flying chords that only a virtuoso can dream of playing.

Speaking of virtuosity, Rachmaninoff did not hold back while composing his concerto. He set out on making a showman’s piece to boast in the United States and ended up birthing a technical nightmare. Josef Hofmann, the world-class pianist Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to, never even played the piece in public out of fear of its difficulty. Outside of Rachmaninoff’s performances, it wouldn’t be another 2 decades until someone else dared to incorporate the piece into their repertoire; Vladimir Horowitz began touring with the concerto in 1930 across Russia. He emboldened others to have their own try at the piece.

Fun Fact:

Yunchan Lim is the youngest Van Cliburn winner, championing Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto in the final round.

Movements:

I. Allegro ma non tanto

II. Intermezzo: Adagio

III. Finale: Alla breve