March 10th, 2011
Program notes for Recital Program, American Matthay Festival
The Corelli Variations, Op. 42, a work from 1932, was the second set of solo piano variations by Rachmaninoff, the first being the Variations on a Theme of Chopin, from 1909. The history of the Corelli Folie d’Espagne theme is not so precise. The folia, a wild and rhythmic dance, probably first appeared in Portugal in the mid-16th century. The so-called Corelli theme appeared in Spain mid-17th century.
The Rachmaninoff set of 20 variations is divided into two parts separated by a quasi recitativo intermezzo. Rachmaninoff apparently had doubts about the success of this serious work. Reportedly he would routinely eliminate variations if the audience seemed bored or distracted.
Granados, one of the great triumvirate of Spanish composers that includes DeFalla and Albeniz, was the most romantic of the three in his approach to composition. The Spanish Dance in Bb Major is actually a masurca with the typically strong emphasis on the 2nd beat of each bar.
The Maiden and the Nightingale, one of the six pieces from his pianistic masterpiece Goyescas, became the hauntingly beautiful aria of love and jealousy in his opera of the same name. El Pelele is an arrangement by Granados of the opening music from the Goyescas opera. It depicts women tossing a straw doll, the pelele, representing their old loves. The Danza Aragonesa, derived from a dance called the jota, was published posthumously.