The piece is a set of 24 variations on the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini’s Caprices for solo violin, which has inspired works by several composers.

• Introduction: Allegro vivace – Variation I (Precedente)
• Tema: L’istesso tempo
• Variation II: L’istesso tempo
• Variation III: L’istesso tempo
• Variation IV: Più vivo
• Variation V: Tempo precedente
• Variation VI: L’istesso tempo
• Variation VII: Meno mosso, a tempo moderato
• Variation VIII: Tempo I
• Variation IX: L’istesso tempo
• Variation X: L’istesso tempo
• Variation XI: Moderato
• Variation XII: Tempo di minuetto
• Variation XIII: Allegro
• Variation XIV: L’istesso tempo
• Variation XV: Più vivo scherzando
• Variation XVI: Allegretto
• Variation XVII: Allegretto
• Variation XVIII: Andante cantabile
• Variation XIX: A tempo vivace
• Variation XX: Un poco più vivo
• Variation XXI: Un poco più vivo
• Variation XXII: Un poco più vivo (Alla breve)
• Variation XXIII: L’istesso tempo
• Variation XXIV: A tempo un poco meno mosso

Although Rachmaninoff’s work is performed in one stretch without breaks, it can be divided into three sections, corresponding to the three movements of a concerto: up to variation 11 corresponds to the first movement, variations 12 to 18 are the equivalent of a slow movement, and the remaining variations make a finale.

After a brief introduction, the first variation is played before the theme. Paganini’s theme is stated on strings with the piano picking out salient notes, after the first variation. Rachmaninoff likely got the idea of having a variation before the theme from the finale of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. Variations II to VI recombine elements of the theme. The pauses and rhetorical flourishes for the piano in variation VII herald a change of tempo and tone. The piano next gravely intones the Dies Irae, the “day of wrath” plainchant from the medieval Mass of the Dead, while the orchestra accompanies with a slower version of the opening motif of the Paganini theme. The piece is one of several by Rachmaninoff to quote the Dies Irae plainchant melody.

The slow eighteenth variation is by far the most well-known, and it is often included on classical music compilations without the rest of the work. It is based on an inversion of the melody of Paganini’s theme. In other words, the A minor Paganini theme is played “upside down” in D flat major. Rachmaninoff himself recognized the appeal of this variation, saying “This one, is for my agent.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Pletnev: piano

Claudio Abbado: conductor

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Arthur Rubinstein: piano

Alfred Wallenstein: conductor

part 1/2

part 2/2

Ayako Uehara: piano

part 1/3

part 2/3

part 3/3

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43 in A minor sheet music