Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, composition for piano and orchestra by Sergei Rachmaninoff. It premiered on November 9, 1901, and contains themes that, throughout the 20th century, would be reborn as the melodies of several popular songs, including Frank Sinatra’s 1945 “Full Moon and Empty Arms” and Eric Carmen’s 1975 “All by Myself”; Carmen, trained as a classical pianist, shared songwriting credit with the long-dead Rachmaninoff. It was made most famous when a portion of the second movement was set as the haunting motif of David Lean’s 1945 film Brief Encounter.

This concerto saved Rachmaninoff’s compositional career. In 1897, the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 had gone badly, victim of the fact that the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was highly intoxicated that evening. Reviews of the performance, and the symphony itself, were so cruel that Rachmaninoff, finding himself crippled with writer’s block, swore off composition in favor of piano performance. Three years later, friends and family persuaded him to consult with Dr. Nikolai Dahl, a pioneer in techniques of hypnotism, and, not incidentally, an avid amateur musician. After months of sessions, Rachmaninoff found again the courage to compose and completed a new concerto, the No. 2 in C Minor. Its premiere was given to great acclaim in Moscow on November 9, 1901, with the composer himself as soloist. In gratitude, Rachmaninoff dedicated the score to Dr. Dahl, perhaps the only hypnotist ever to earn such an honor from a major composer.

As a virtuoso pianist, Rachmaninoff composed for the instrument not only according to his own tastes but to his own strengths as well. He was, for example, a tall and lanky man with an astonishing reach to his hands. Pianists of small proportions and even those of average size will find his work challenging. The great pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy observed in an interview with England’s Gramophone magazine that for playing Rachmaninoff, he wished his fingers were a centimeter longer. Moreover, as Rachmaninoff could play both lightning-fast runs and powerful chords with equal mastery, he includes both in his piano parts, requiring a highly varied technique. For any pianist, it is not music for the faint of heart, yet the rewards are worth the challenge.

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The first movement (Moderato - Allegro) opens with dark, paired chords for the soloist, building into stormy runs. Only belatedly does the orchestra join in with the first of the main melodies, rich and lyrical, while the soloist provides color and sparkle. A second theme, more rapturous than turbulent, appears. More demonstrably assertive ideas develop, though the movement will close in gentle demeanor.

By contrast, the second movement (Adagio sostenuto) is sweetly romantic in the spirit of a candlelit dinner. Frequently, Rachmaninoff gives peacefully flowing themes to the woodwinds, with the solo piano set to elaborating upon those themes with light passagework. Ultimately, the main theme takes on its richest form with the strings, the pianist again providing decorative details.

Drama returns with the final movement (Allegro scherzando), with a march-like beat in the first bars, demanding runs for the soloist, and at last a grand, flowing melody to support that bravura keyboard activity. Rachmaninoff builds a strong sense of motion that drives all the way to the final bars. More often than not, it is the orchestra—not the soloist—that has the melodies, though the soloist colors and underscores the action, drawing the eye and ear. Throughout the work, however, the piano is rarely silent, making it clear that that instrument is the chief engine of the Rachmaninoff’s justly famed composition.

As of 2023, more than 300 recordings of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor existed. One of the most interesting was performed by Rachmaninoff himself, playing with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1929. It has been said that, Rachmaninoff’s recording notwithstanding, the concerto is best performed by a young pianist capable of holding up to the physical demands of the piece, especially its thunderous conclusion. Despite his reservations, for example, Vladimir Ashkenazy recorded a fine version with the Moscow Philharmonic in 1962, when he was 25 years old. Perhaps the greatest modern interpreter of the piece is the virtuoso pianist Lang Lang, whose performance of the concerto is a revelation. His Deutsche Grammaphon recording with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra was made when he was just 22.

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