In 1934, having already completed four piano concerti, Sergei Rachmaninov began a new piece consisting of 24 variations on Paganini’s well-known violin theme. The task was an ambitious one, given that the theme had already been used by other composers, notably Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms.
Rachmaninov’s piece is not a concerto in the conventional sense, having only one movement rather than the usual three, but it follows the tempo pattern of a typical concerto, beginning and ending briskly, with a slower middle section.
The best-known of Rachmaninov’s variations is the lyrical 18th, which presents a melodic inversion of Paganini’s theme, meaning that rising steps are transformed into equivalent falling steps and vice versa.
Here is pianist Stephen Hough to play this music for you:
