I propose...

Doshea3

...that Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto is superior to his third.

My reasons:

—The second is perfectly constructed. The fact that Rach wrote the first movement after the other two reinforces the fact that it is a very well balanced concerto. From the opening chords of the first movement through the expositions and development of its themes (two in particular, the C minor orchestral theme and the E-flat major theme taken up by the piano), to the deliciously remote E major second movement and the virtuosic finale, it has a bit of everything. Even the length of the movements is well balanced.

—The third concerto, while being a masterpiece, is too long and too heavy. Both the second and third are in minor keys, but the third is far darker. Just think of the dark tonalities in the opening bars of the third movement. The second has that gorgeous slow movement, but there is little genuine repose in the third.

—The third is far too difficult for its own good. It even sounds difficult, which is not as good a thing as it might seem at first: the listener is regularly more concerned with the breathtaking virtuosity and the massive sonorities than the actual effect of the music. I regularly find myself wincing as I listen to it. Especially that cadenza. You know the one I mean, the long one. It makes uncomfortable listening. The second requires virtuosity, but not of the inhuman proportions required by the third.

—Rach must have felt this himself: he never felt the need to revise the second concerto, but came back to the third to make cuts.

Discuss.

"Compare and contrast the second and third concertos of Sergei Rachmaninoff." Now that would have been a much more interesting sort of Leaving Cert. music question.

Anyway. What do you think, my friends?

banquo

OOOOoohhh don't let Kris see this thread

Heh, this wouldn't be a college assignment by any change

Tbh, I have no idea. Best go educate myself at the double!

Doshea3

Don't worry Rob, I've not mentioned my thoughts to Kris.

And no, it's not a college assignment. I wish they'd give us assignments as interesting as this! Just like I bet you wish your college would give you an assignment to analyse thematic unity in the Waldstein sonata!

Another reason: the third concerto lacks the variety of the second. The second has many (but not too many) distinct themes, whereas the third is essentially monothematic, with the material all growing organically from the theme stated at the opening. While this is a great musical virtue in itself, in a concerto so long and so weighty the effect is not always so positive.

funky penguin

I agree.