Rachmaninoff’s Piano Variations on Paganini’s Violin Caprice

Kate Liu will perform one of the most popular piano pieces of all time, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, at the Evanston Symphony’s October 26 concert at 2:30 in the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.

Written in 1934, the piece is a set of 24 variations on Niccolo Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 for solo violin, which was published in 1819 and had also inspired Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. Not a concerto in the traditional sense of a piece with three separate movements, it follows the tempo pattern of a concerto: beginning and ending with a fast section with a slower section sandwiched in the middle.

Some highlights of this very popular piece include a break with tradition, as the first variation is played before the theme after a brief introduction. The theme is then stated on strings with the piano carrying it forward. Listen for the Dies irae theme—the “day of wrath” hymn from the Mass of the Dead—in Variations 7, 10 and 24. And you’re sure to recognize the lyrical 18th Variation, a popular romantic theme that’s shown up on TV, in movies and on many classical music compilations.

Join us at our “Russian Rhapsodies” concert, which also includes Weinberg’s Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B Flat Major. Tickets are available at evanstonsymphony.org or by calling 847-864-8804.