Symphony No. 2
A broad, warm-hearted symphony of long-breathed melody and deep romantic feeling, written to prove that Rachmaninoff could master the form that had once broken him. It became his vindication.
Rachmaninoff composed the Second Symphony between 1906 and 1907, having stepped away from his conducting post at the Bolshoi Theatre and moved to Dresden to concentrate on writing. The failure of his First Symphony still shadowed him, and he approached the genre with real uncertainty. He revised carefully, and this time the gamble paid off. The premiere in 1908, which he conducted himself, was met with great applause, and the work later won the Glinka Award. It restored his faith in his own symphonic gift.
The symphony is long, close to an hour when played complete, and unhurried in the way it lets its melodies unfold. Its most loved passage is the Adagio, where a solo clarinet spins a slow, aching line that circles around single notes above rich supporting harmony. Elsewhere the Dies irae chant surfaces again, woven quietly into the texture as it so often is in his large works.
For decades the symphony was mostly heard in cut versions, trimmed to around thirty-five minutes to spare audiences its length. Only from around 1970 did the full score become the norm, restoring the sweeping scale and the patient build that make the work whole.
Movements
Recordings coming soon
The individual movements will be uploaded here.