Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42

Not even Rachmaninov was immune to the neo-classical tendencies of the twenties and thirties. Of course, it is a matter of degree: Rachmaninov was no Stravinsky or Prokofiev and the composer of the Corelli Variations of 1931 and the Paganini Rhapsody of 1934 is still unmistakably recognisable as the composer of the Piano Concertos in C minor and D minor. The baroque source of the theme for what turned out to be his last solo piano work is significant, however. So is its treatment, where Rachmaninov allies neo-classical wit with romantic sentiment in much the same irresistible proportions as he was to apply to his Paganini theme three years later.

The Corelli theme - which is actually a traditional Iberian dance tune of considerable antiquity known as “La Folía” - is presented by Rachmaninov as Corelli has it in his twelfth Violin Sonata in D minor. Although it has been a subject for variation by many other composers, its melodic interest is evidently not what attracted Rachmaninov to it. He offers one variation to reshape the melody slightly, setting it in his own wayward sort of harmonies, but after that he is concerned not so much with the melodic outline of “La Folía” as with the rhythmic surprises he can spring on it, the incongruously playful or even violent keyboard techniques he can apply to it or the poetry he can find in it.

The finest inspiration of the work has nothing to do with the quality of “La Folía.” The first thirteen variations (or eleven if the performer omits the ones the composer marks in the score as optional) are all, like the theme itself, in D minor. He then inserts an Intermezzo which has the innocently outward appearance of a cadenza but which has the actual effect of changing the prevailing D minor to an alien D flat major - in which key he very surprisingly re-introduces the theme in its original Andante tempo and in something not unlike its original melodic shape. The lovely fifteenth variation - an anticipation of the famous eighteenth variation in the Paganini Rhapsody - then takes full advantage of the new harmonic situation before the tonality reverts to D minor for the last five (or four if a shorter version is used).

These last variations are even more imaginative than their predecessors - above all the one with the guitar-like strummed accompaniment which refuses to take the changing metres into account - and they apparently come to a powerfully dramatic conclusion on pounding octaves at the bottom end of the keyboard. But Rachmaninov has one more surprise, which is a gently reflective coda finally dying away on a faint echo of “La Folía.”