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Sergey Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) - Vocalise, Instrumental Arrangement, Op. 34 Nº 14, 1912 Daniil Shafran, Cello, Anton Ginzburg, Piano Rachmaninov wrote his wordless Vocalise in 1912 and revised it three years later. It is one of his more popular vocal works, featuring a soaring, beautiful theme whose passionate Romantic character has inspired many artists and composers to adapt it for other instruments and ensembles. It exists in so many arrangements that it would be almost impossible to catalog them all. There are versions -- in some cases several -- for piano, violin (Oistrakh), cello (Nina Kotova, A. Brandukov), clarinet (Emma Johnson), bassoon (Daniel Smith), saxophone (Branford Marsalis), and orchestra (V. Kin). There have also been versions for trumpet, band, chamber orchestra, and various other ensembles. Usually, the instrumental renditions use piano accompaniment only, but there are renditions for violin, cello, and other instruments using orchestra or chamber orchestra accompaniment. It is easy to see why this work has adapted so well to other instrumental venues -- the melody is pure and enchanating, and the lovely piano accompaniment perfectly underscores the mood of gentle rapture. The theme slowly spins downward using a three-note pattern, then soars upward to reach a lovely trill. Its second subject continues the passionate outpouring of lovely, poignant music, the piano obsessively repeating the three-note germ from the melody. There is some development of the theme, during which the music somewhat intensifies, but its reprise at the close restores the calmer, but still passionate mood from the opening. The various versions last from about seven to nine minutes and the better instrumental ones are for violin and piano and cello and piano. Vocalise, Rachmaninov's most popular vocal work, is not actually a song since it contains no text, the voice being used strictly as a musical instrument and accompanied by piano. There have been numerous transcriptions of it over the years, some by the composer, many more by others. Rachmaninov fashioned versions for piano, for violin, cello and piano, and for orchestra. He recorded his orchestral transcription of the work in 1929, and that effort has been widely available in recent times. The composer's mostly string-dominated scoring effectively captures the lovely lyrical flow of the music: the main theme is ravishing, a typically Rachmaninovian creation in its passionate melancholy and soaring beauty. While this melody is quite original, it is similar in mood and tempo to the main theme in the second movement of the composer's popular Piano Concerto No. 2. Both tunes are long-breathed and unravel slowly, spawning much secondary material. The middle section of Vocalise develops tension and a strong sense of yearning, its sudden restive character, however, not breaking with the lyrical nature of the work. The main theme returns to close out the work in a more tranquil though still passionate vein. Other popular orchestral versions of Vocalise include one by Russian composer. Vocalise Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Rachmanninoff, Sergei Vasilyevich, Rachmaninoff, Sergej Rachmaninoff, Serge Rachmaninoff, Serge Rachmaninov, Sergey Rakhmaninov, Sergey Vasil'yevich Rakhmaninov
