This piece was written by Sergei right after his most famous piece, the Second Piano Concerto, in 1900. What always surprised me about this movement is that it feels like Gershwin on the fingers. George was in diapers when this piece was composed, so it’s just coincidence.
When Rachmaninov fled Russia for New York in 1918, he became a huge admirer of Gershwin, who was on his way to conquering Broadway. Sergei was delighted to discover that the fact that his family was of Russian nobility and the Gershvitz family came straight out of the shtetl made no difference in America. Two sons of Russia’s very different societies could come to America and prosper by sheer talent and hard work. Sergei took a kind of fatherly pride in watching George carve out a huge place in the American musical scene. Gershwin’s piano music influenced Rachmaninov and added a jazzy flavor to the Paganini Rhapsody of 1934. George’s death at age 39 from brain cancer in 1937 was a factor in Sergei’s decision to decamp New York and settle in Beverly Hills.
This movement is a love song in three flats, built with the simplest of materials. The summation at 5:25 always causes my screen to go blurry.
This is a historic live performance from 1976 featuring two giants of their respective instruments.
Beautiful!