Vocalise Op.34 No.14

Why Rachmaninov added his Vocalise to a collection of songs for voice and piano as a kind of afterthought, three years after the others were written, it is impossible to say. Bearing in mind that the first 13 songs of Op.34, are setting of words by Russian poets and that Vocalise was almost without precedent in having no words at all, his contemporaries must have been very surprised by it. Certainly, the Bolshoi soprano it was written for, Antonina Nezhdanova, thought it was a pity it had no text, as she told the composer. “What need is there for words,” he replied, “when you will be able to convey everything better and more expressively by your voice and interpretation than anyone could with words?”

Diplomatically flattering comment though that was, it gives little clue to Rachmaninov’s thinking here. Perhaps there is more of a clue in a request he had recently made to friend to send him poems he could set to music. “The mood should be sad,” he said, “rather than gay: bright tones do no come easily to me.” Perhaps he couldn’t at that point find the words to express a characteristically melancholic nostalgia and just wrote down the sort of vocal line and piano accompaniment he would have applied to a suitable text if there had been one one.

Whatever the reasoning behind Vocalise, it was an inspiration, since it allowed him to extend and elaborate a hypnotically undulating vocal line entirely according to its melodic and rhythmic impulses. On its first performance by Nezhdanova in 1916, it was an immediate success – so much so that, to satisfy public demand, he made arrangements for orchestra, for violin and piano, and for cello and piano. While, obviously, the orchestral score is the most colourful of the three, the violin and cello versions both preserve the intimacy of the original with the two string instruments equally well equipped to sustain an expressive line through the fluctations in emotional pressure and the occasional contrapuntal exchange with the piano.

“What need is there for words?” asked Rachmaninov. He was replying to an evidently puzzled comment from Antonina Nezhdanova, the Boshoi soprano for whom he had written Vocalise and who found it difficult to accept a song with a vocal line but no text other than “Ah.” Reassured by his faith in her – “You will be able to convey everything better and more expressively by your voice and interpretation than anyone could with words” – she scored an immediate success with it. The first performance of Vocalise, by Nezhdanova and Rachmaninov in Moscow in January 1916, was so well received, in fact, that to satisfy public demand the composer went on to make arrangements for orchestra, for violin and piano, and for cello and piano. While, obviously, the orchestral score is the most colourful of the three, the violin and cello versions both preserve the intimacy of the original, the string instruments being similarly well equipped to sustain an expressive line through the fluctations in emotional pressure and the occasional contrapuntal exchange with the piano.

Just what inspired Rachamaniov to invent a new relationship between voice and piano – to be published as part of his Op.34, consisting otherwise of 13 songs to texts by various Russian poets – it is impossible to say. There is a clue perhaps in a request he had recently made for verse he could set to music. “The mood should be sad rather than gay,” he said. “Bright tones do not come easily to me.” Perhaps he couldn’t at that point find the words to express a characteristically melancholic nostalgia and just wrote down the sort of vocal line and piano accompaniment he would have applied to a suitable poem if there had been one. Certainly, it is based on a mediative, hypnotically undulating line, the absence of a text allowing it to develop entirely according to its melodic and rhythmc impulses – including an occasional allusion to the composer’s favourite Dies Irae motif.

Why Rachmaninov added his Vocalise to a collection of songs for voice and piano as a kind of afterthought, three years after the others were written, it is impossible to say. Bearing in mind that the first 13 songs of Op.34, are setting of words by Russian poets and that Vocalise was almost without precedent in having no words at all, his contemporaries must have been very surprised by it. Certainly, the Bolshoi soprano it was written for, Antonina Nezhdanova, thought it was a pity it had no text, as she told the composer. “What need is there for words,” he replied, “when you will be able to convey everything better and more expressively by your voice and interpretation than anyone could with words?”

Diplomatically flattering comment though that was, it gives little clue to Rachmaninov’s thinking here. Perhaps there is more of a clue in a request he had recently made to friend to send him poems he could set to music. “The mood should be sad,” he said, “rather than gay: bright tones do no come easily to me.” Perhaps he couldn’t at that point find the words to express a characteristically melancholic nostalgia and just wrote down the sort of vocal line and piano accompaniment he would have applied to a suitable text if there had been one one.

Whatever the reasoning behind Vocalise, it was an inspiration, since it allowed him to extend and elaborate one of his most hypnotic melodies in a way that was entirely natural to it. On its first performance by Nezhdanova in 1916, it was an immediate success – so much so that, to satisfy public demand, he made arrangements for violin and piano, for cello and piano and for orchestra. In the orchestral arrangement he entrusts the melody mainly to strings, which are best equipped for its sinuously expressive line, although a cor anglais makes an early entry with a counter-melody and although, after a passionate central climax, the main theme is reintroduced by a lonely-sounding solo clarinet.

Gerald Larner © 2009