Rachmaninoff's 18th Variation
from the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
runs throughout the movie Somewhere in Time
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, opus 43, is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The piece is a set of 24 variations on the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini's Caprices for solo violin. The Rhapsody was written for piano and symphony orchestra, and resembles a piano concerto.
The work was written at his Villa Senar estate in Switzerland in 1934. Rachmaninoff played the solo piano part at the piece's premiere at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 7, 1934, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
The 18th Variation is by far the most well-known, and it is often included on classical music compilations without the rest of the work. It is based on an inversion of the melody of Paganini's theme. In other words, the A minor Paganini theme is played "upside down" in D flat major. Rachmaninoff himself recognized the appeal of this variation, saying "This one, is for my agent."
A Russian piano virtuoso, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) was one of the last great composers of the Romantic era of music. His compositions are renowned for their lyricism, expressive breadth, structural ingenuity, and a tonal palette of rich distinctive orchestral colors.
Tutorials
Version 1 in Db Major
Version 2 in D Major (easier)
Sheetmusic Version 1
(matches except that the video begins on last beat of the 2nd measure)
Sheetmusic Version 2
