Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 04/01/2004, uploaded on 04/16/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

A light and humorous piece for two pianos, Rachmaninoff’s Polka italienne certainly defies the gloom and melancholy that pervade through so many of his other compositions. Purportedly, the piece is based on a tune Rachmaninoff heard outside of his lodgings while he resided in Florence, Italy during the summer of 1906 after his abrupt resignation from the Bolshoi Theatre. Indeed, the polka is hardly meant to be anything but a crowd-pleasing ditty. Composed in a simple two-part form and marked to be repeated, it places the first pianist in the spotlight while the second is relegated entirely to the task of accompaniment. The polka’s jaunty and playful tune begins in the key of E-flat minor. Following the close of this theme, the second half of the piece consists mostly of cascading scales, allotted to the first pianist in octaves, which eventually arrives at a sort of closing melody that provides the piece with a joyful flourish at its termination.      Joseph DuBose