Morceaux De Salon, Op. 6 (Rachmaninoff) on:
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The ''Morceaux de salon'' (''Salon Pieces''), Op. 6, are a set of two pieces for piano and violin composed by
The ''Morceaux de salon'' (''Salon Pieces''), Op. 6, are a set of two pieces for piano and violin composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
in 1893.
History
The two ''Morceaux de salon'' were composed in the summer 1893, when Rachmaninoff was already established as a composer and pianist. His '' Morceaux de fantaisie'', Op. 3, had already been published, and he had completed the Suite for two pianos, Op. 5. The ''Morceaux de salon'' are similar in scope and structure to the ''Pieces for cello and piano'', Op. 2, which consists of a Prélude, and a ''Danse orientale''. It is likely that they were dedicated toJulius Conus
Julius or Jules Conus (russian: Юлий Эдуардович Конюс, ''Yuly Eduardovich Konyus''; 1 February 1869 3 January 1942) was a Russian violinist and composer.
Conus was born in Moscow, the son of the pianist Eduard Conus. His bro ...
, whose son would later marry the daughter of Rachmaninoff.
Structure
The ''Morceaux de salon'' consists of aRomance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
and a ''Danse hongroise'' (Hungarian dance). Both pieces are written in D minor
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major.
The D natural minor scale is:
Changes needed for t ...
.
# ''Romance''
#: The ''Romance '' begins with the main theme on the violin, underlined by flowing arpeggio
A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves.
An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...
piano accompaniment. In development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
*Photographi ...
, the theme is played in double stop
In music, a double stop is the technique of playing two notes simultaneously on a stringed instrument such as a violin, a viola, a cello, or a double bass. On instruments such as the Hardanger fiddle it is common and often employed. In performin ...
octaves on the violin, with the piano writing also becoming fuller and more dramatic. The recapitulation leads to a short, passionate, cadenza
In music, a cadenza (from it, cadenza, link=no , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvisation, improvised or written-out ornament (music), ornamental passage (music), passage played or sung by a solo (music), sol ...
on the violin, before concluding ''pianissimo'' in a D minor chord.
# ''Danse hongroise''
#:In stark contrast to the ''Romance'', the ''Danse hongroise'', marked ''Vivace'', is a brilliant and virtuosic show piece. At one point, the piano seems to echo an idea from the main theme of the ''Romance''.
A performance takes approximately 11 minutes.
Reception
Robert Matthew-Walker
Robert Matthew-Walker (born 23 July 1939) is an English composer, writer, editor marketer and broadcaster, mainly involved in classical music.
Robert Matthew-Walker was born in Lewisham, London, and studied at Goldsmiths College, the Universit ...
writes that "such is the composer's mastery of violin writing (though he may well have enlisted Conus's assistance in this regard) that one regrets that he did not leave a more extended work for the instrument".
See also
* ''Morceaux de salon'', Op. 10, a set of solo piano piecesReferences
External links
* {{Authority control 1893 compositions Chamber music by Sergei Rachmaninoff Compositions for violin and piano Compositions in D minor