THE CULMINATION OF THE RUSSIAN ROMANTIC PIANO SCHOOL AS REPRESENTED BY EARLY AND LATE WORKS OF RACHMANINOFF, SCRIABIN, AND MEDTNER

Abstract

Rachmaninoff, Medtner, and Scriabin are the most significant composers of the Russian Romantic piano school in the first half of the twentieth century. Their aesthetics, inspirations, and approaches to composition are each unique, and the representative works from their early and late periods provide an excellent opportunity to examine their differences. A disciple of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff composed most of his works before immigrating to the West in 1917. Unlike the emotionally charged, melodically directed compositions of the Russian period, such as Morceaux de salon and Moments Musicaux, his late work, Variations on a Theme of Corelli, is austere and philosophical. Medtner, on the other hand, was a Romantic seeking classical forms of expression, whose style remained mostly unchanged throughout his career. He emphasized structural clarity and contrapuntal writing, following the tradition of Beethoven and Brahms, along with the nostalgic quality characteristic of Russian music. The blending of German and Russian elements is evident in both the Sonata-Reminiscenza and his last work for piano solo, Elegy, Op. 59 No. 2. Unlike Rachmaninoff and Medtner, both of whom disliked modernism and whose styles were deeply rooted in the nineteenth century, Scriabin was an innovator. He strove to create new sonorities, harmonies, and colors to musically represent his philosophical beliefs as the foundation for his music. The drastic evolution of his style throughout his short life is seen clearly in his early Chopinesque Preludes, Op. 11 and the late modernistic Preludes, Op. 74.