Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2

摘要

Anyone who has seen the 1945 British film classic Brief Encounter will remember the music that enhanced the performances by the two principal stars, Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard - Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto. (The pianist for the soundtrack was Eileen Joyce.) But this was far from the only instance, as it has been used in nine other films from 1932 to 2010, while three Sinatra songs draw on its themes - Ken Dodd missed his chance here! It sealed Rachmaninov's reputation for large-scale composition and has a passing resemblance to Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. Both works have dramatic solo openings pushed aside by the orchestra and in the slow movement a central, lightning-fast, cadenza-like passage. The start of the Rachmaninov reflects the composer's liking for the sounds of Russian church bells tolling.