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99
Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture

ISSN 1712-8358[Print]

ISSN 1923-6700[Online]

www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.org

Cross-Cultural Communication

Vol. 11, No. 12, 2015, pp. 99-112

DOI:10.3968/8019

The Power of Russian Music Spirit: Keys as Color in Rachmaninov"s Piano

Etudes-Tableaux Op.33

CHEN Ruoxu

[a],* [a] College of Music, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.

Corresponding author.

Received 25 September 2015; accepted 18 November 2015

Published online 26 December 2015

Abstract

The intention of this study is to explore the collection of Etudes-Tableaux for piano solo by Sergei Rachmaninov

(1873-1943) for the composer"s unique manipulation of tonal areas as the basis of the Romantic concept of musical color. What is the harmonic linkage that binds these etudes together internally as a set? In order to understand how Rachmaninov uses tonal areas and keys to invoke a special quality, let us first define what we mean by “color." Traditionally, the term “color" refers to the texture and density of sonority, hence sonic color. In this case, the notion of “color" is related to the way context by creating a desired atmosphere and an emotional quality. Intrinsic harmonic qualities of tonal regions are essential to Rachmaninov"s musical expression, according to which color areas may be seen as tableaux or sonic pictures. The term Tableau in Rachmaninov"s double title the composer"s use of musical color to suggest some kind of pictorial connotation.

Key words: Rachmaninov; Piano music; Piano

performance; EtudesChen, R. X. (2015). The Power of Russian Music Spirit: Keys as Color in Rachmaninov"s Piano Etudes-Tableaux Op.33. Cross-Cultural Communication, 11(12), 99-112. Available from:

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/8019

INTRODUCTION

Sergei Rachmaninov, a brilliant Russian pianist and

composer of the “Post-Romantique" era, wrote two sets of Etudes-Tableaux which play a significant role in the

Etudes-Tableaux, Op.33,

was written at the composer"s family estate of Ivanovka in second set of piano preludes, Op.32. They are exemplary of the composer"s personal musical expression, virtuosic technical display, idiomatic approach to piano writing, and use of tonal areas and keys for invoking emotional quality.

They are Rachmaninov"s landmark compositions as well as the last major piano etudes written in the Romantic

tradition of the nineteenth century. As conventionally seen in the Classical and Romantic tradition, harmonic progression is understood as motion from one key area to another in the unfolding and integration of the large structure. However, the primary emphasis of this study is to explore harmonic motion and integration mainly in terms of color, that is to say, as a means toward a different end from that of functionality. In contrast to J. S. Bach"s Well-Tempered Clavier, organized in parallel major and minor keys in ascending chromatic order, or Chopin"s

Preludes

, arranged in relative major and minor keys according to the circle of fifths, Rachmaninov"s Etudes- Tableaux, Op.33, seems to have no systematic logic in the key succession. Instead, these etudes are internally connected through a deeper level of contextual harmonic organization, which may be attributed to the composer"s highly individual and characteristically Russian harmonic language. Rather than the pre-compositional assumption in which the logic of tonality existed before the pieces were written, e.g. Bach"s Well-Tempered Clavier and Chopin"s Preludes, Rachmaninov"s design and arrangement of keys

Etudes-Tableaux

harmonic contextuality associated with his own musical language and artistic aesthetics. These nine short virtuosic pieces for piano solo are in essence a combination of etudes, tone pictures, and character pieces. They cannot be considered as ordinary program music, since they contain no extra-musical descriptive meanings. They are in fact absolute musical 100
Copyright © Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture

The Power of Russian Music Spirit: Keys as Color

in Rachmaninov"s Piano Etudes-Tableaux Op.33 pieces that happen to bear a programmatic title collectively. These refined etudes truly achieve the effect of arousing and crystallizing a certain kind of mood within a miniature structure, presenting some of the most extraordinary technical demands of piano playing, and exploring the full range of the instrument"s potential resources. Every etude is designed in a unique way, presenting a distinctive abstract tableau associated with a particular mood. Rachmaninov has successfully demonstrated his capacity as an ingenious “tone-painter" through imaginative tonal treatment and widely-diverse coloring in harmony. Rachmaninov"s etude style draws inspiration from the prototypes established by his two non-Russian Romantic forebears, Chopin and Liszt. Like their etudes, the Etudes-Tableaux are intended to be performed in concert setting. They also share the same kind of miniature style, luxurious lyricism, artistic integrity, and technical virtuosity. Paying homage to Chopin, Rachmaninov occasionally uses ideas that recall Chopin"s works. For instance, the seventh etude in G minor (published as No.4) not only shares the same key as Chopin"s First Piano Ballade, but has the identical ending that recalls its figurations. Rachmaninov also inherited Lisztian orchestral keyboard writing centered on the presentation of coloristic sonorities and extreme exploration of the potential of both instrument and performer. The hidden programmatic tendencies of Etudes-Tableaux can be attributed to Liszt"s influence as well. In regard to the specific visual imagery associated with each piece, Rachmaninov has remained secretive, saying “I don"t believe in the artist that discloses too much of his images. Let them paint for themselves what it most suggests" (Bertensson & Leyda, 2002, p.218). However, some evidence that Rachmaninov clearly had programmatic content in mind when he wrote these etudes is suggested in his letter to Ottorino Respighi, who orchestrated five of the Etudes-Tableaux in 1930. The unusual double title coined by Rachmaninov further points to the development of poetry and pictures in his music (Aranovskii, 1963, p.21). Therefore, the Etudes- Tableaux are essentially “musical evocations of external visual stimuli" (Norris, 1993, p.84). All these statements demonstrate the latent association with inspired imagery and color in these etudes.

For Alexander Scriabin, who was Rachmaninov"s

classmate and friend at the Moscow Conservatory from

1884-88, the notion of “color" has been extended even

further. From Scriabin"s point of view, harmony is the equivalent of musical color beyond its functional role in pitch organization. This notion was extended to the principle of synesthesia, wherein musical keys and harmonies are associated with visual colors based on human sensation and intuition. Although Rachmaninov has remained skeptical about the use of synesthesia in music, Scriabin"s perception of harmony may have had some connection with Rachmaninov"s coloring potential of harmony, since they both matured within the same educational environment. Rachmaninov"s musical color, so relevant to his masterful manipulation of keys, goes beyond harmonic functions and is intended as a means to explore unknown sonorities and to express a wide range of profound human emotions. Alexander Ossovsky, Russian critic and friend of Rachmaninov, offered such a description that “the greatest power in his creative hands and his favorite is harmony-which is full of color, lush, often bold and sometimes even rather tough" (Campbell, 2003, p.176). Rachmaninov"s late nineteenth- century harmonic language is also widely known to be exceptionally complicated due to its ingenious amalgamation of Western tonal traditions and Russian musical idioms, and the complexity of his variegated harmonic language has generated considerable analytical challenges.

1. AN OVERLOOK OF THE NINE ETUDES

Before drilling into the theoretical examination of these revolutionary etudes, some historical facts are particularly noteworthy. Although only six Etudes-Tableaux were nine in 1911 for the set (listed in Table 1), but decided to the advertised publication under this opus number by

Gutheil and Breitkopf & Härtel in 1914.

Table 1

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