Phone
Tablet - Portrait
Tablet - Landscape
Desktop
Toggle navigation
Performers
Steinway Performers
Albright, Charlie
Anderson, Greg
Arishima, Miyako
Benoit, David
Biegel, Jeffrey
Birnbaum, Adam
Braid, David
Brown, Deondra
Brown, Desirae
Brown, Gregory
Brown, Melody
Brown, Ryan
Caine, Uri
Chen, Sean
Chulochnikova, Tatiana
Deveau, David
Farkas, Gabor
Feinberg, Alan
Fung, David
Gagne, Chantale
Golan, Jeanne
Goodyear, Stewart
Graybil, Matthew
Gryaznov, Vyacheslav
Gugnin, Andrey
Han, Anna
Han, Yoonie
Iturrioz, Antonio
Khristenko, Stanislav
Kim, Daniel
Li, Zhenni
Lin, Jenny
Lo Bianco, Moira
Lu, Shen
Mahan, Katie
Mao, Weihui
Melemed, Mackenzie
Min, Klara
Mndoyants, Nikita
Moutouzkine, Alexandre
Mulligan, Simon
Myer, Spencer
O'Conor, John
O'Riley, Christopher
Osterkamp, Leann
Paremski, Natasha
Perez, Vanessa
Petersen, Drew
Polk, Joanne
Pompa-Baldi, Antonio
Rangell, Andrew
Roe, Elizabeth Joy
Rose, Earl
Russo, Sandro
Schepkin, Sergei
Scherbakov, Konstantin
Shin, ChangYong
Tak, Young-Ah
Ziegler, Pablo
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Back 1 step
Sergei Rachmaninov
Sergei Rachmaninov
Suite for 2 Pianos no 2, Op. 17
Interpretations
About This Work
Controls
Cover
Artists
Label
Movements
×
Add To Playlist
Success
This selection has been added.
Playlist
Create
Cancel
Confirm
Cancel
About This Work
Rachmaninov composed his second Suite for two pianos, Op. 17 at about the same as his Second Piano Concerto, and it is stylistically similar. The work is full of lush, lyrical melodies, florid and complex passagework, and Rachmaninov's characteristic driving rhythm. Rachmaninov's total command and mastery of the pianistic idiom permeates the entire Suite. It is one of his most successful masterpieces, completely effective on every level. A chordal and energetic March opens the Suite. It is in a simple three-part form (\ABA) with a brief coda. In the following movement, a swirling and hypnotic waltz, the rhythmic impulse is complemented by rapid and complex figurations that create a breathless quality. The middle section is richly lyrical, yet retains the underlying rhythmic drive. The third movement is an Romance. This title, so often found in Rachmaninov's early works, is here utterly descriptive of the movement's emotional qualities. A romantically lush melody rises out of an arpeggiated accompaniment, passes through a longing central section in the minor key, and eventually rises to an ecstatic climax. Closing the Suite is a Tarantelle. Based on the characteristic Italian folk dance, this movement elevates the genre to nearly orchestral proportions. Driving rhythms and powerful climaxes are contrasted with interludes of delicate passagework that ultimately build to the effective and virtuosic coda.
×
Add To Playlist
Success
This selection has been added.
Playlist
Create
Cancel
Confirm
Cancel
BF79F8FE43F74AD2307A72A1CF05AF50