Rachmaninov began work on his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 in the latter part of the summer of 1900. Rachmaninov, having regained his confidence, composed the second and third movements “quickly and easily”. However, he had much difficulty with the first movement. He premiered the work in incomplete form at Ziloti’s suggestion in Moscow on 2^nd. December 1900. This was a daunting performance for Rachmaninov, since the continued restoration of his self-confidence as a composer hinged on its reception. Furthermore, he had contracted a bad cold days before the performance. Also, this was to be his first performance with an orchestra in eight years, having played with an orchestra only three times prior. Moreover, Ziloti was to make his professional conducting debut with this performance. Luckily, the performance went off without a hitch, and Rachmaninov was greatly reassured. The concerto was premiered in its complete form on 27^th.  October 1901. It was a tremendous success with the audiences. The concerto quickly gained international fame with Ziloti’s performances in January 1902 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus under Nikisch and under Sapellnikov in London in May of the same year.

The opening of the concerto begins with a series of swelling piano chords that are punctuated by bass octaves.

The passage brings to mind the sound of bells, heard from far off at first but growing more powerful with each stroke. It is interesting to compare this opening with the final bars of his Prelude in C Sharp Minor. It is possible that he may have derived the opening of the concerto by inverting the layout and dynamics of the final bars of the prelude, in which the bass octaves precede and not follow the chords. As is common with Rachmaninov, the opening theme has a distinctly Russian sound. Rachmaninov’s friend, Medtner, described this Russian quality of the Second Concerto’s main theme, stating that it is “not only the theme of his life but always conveys the impression of being one of the most strikingly Russian of themes, and only because the soul of this theme is Russian…every time, from the first bell stroke, you feel the figure of Russia rising up to her full height.”

The Andante second movement of the concerto is one of Rachmaninov’s most beautiful and celebrated creations. It is very Tchaikovskian, bringing to mind the Andante of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. Rachmaninov took much of the movement from his earlier work, Romance, which he had written for the three Skalon sisters in 1891. This makes the movement even more touching when one thinks of Rachmaninov’s reminiscence on the good times he had with the Skalon sisters before Vera’s engagement and their break in communication. Even the most stoic of Russians were touched by the melodies that Rachmaninov presented in this movement. “It is not surprising that the beauties of this movement particularly touched Rachmaninov’s teacher Taneyev, who wept at a rehearsal performance and uttered the single word ‘genius’, not an expression used lightly by the stern master or by Russians generally.”

The third movement is an Allegro scherzando in the key of C major. The strings start off, building to a staccato climax. The principal subject makes its first appearance as the piano enters with a flourish. After this theme is developed, one of Rachmaninov’s most endearing melodies now makes its appearance. At first it is presented by a solo oboe and strings. Eventually it is played in its fully glorious form in a Maestoso restatement. A series of powerful chords from the piano ends the piece with a thrilling conclusion.

The concerto truly is a brilliant work, proving that Rachmaninov had fully recovered from his previous difficulties in composition. He had fully left behind his feelings of depression and triumphed with this work, progressing far past what he had written previously. The greatest advance of all, however, is in the lyricism, which has demonstrated for nearly one hundred years the power to touch the hearts of each successive generation. The concerto and the works which followed it mark out Rachmaninov as second only to Tchaikovsky in the list of Russian lyricists.

Survey of famous recordings of the Concerto  (click here).