Vocalise (Rachmaninoff)
Beginning of the score
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, is a song by Sergei Rachmaninoff, composed and published in 1915 as the last of his "Fourteen Songs", Op. 34.[1] Written for high voice (soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment, it contains no words, but is sung using any one vowel (of the singer's choosing). It was dedicated to soprano Antonina Nezhdanova.
Range
Although the original publication stipulates that the song may be sung by either soprano or tenor voice, it is usually performed by a soprano. It is sometimes transposed into a variety of keys, allowing performers to choose a vocal range more suitable to their natural voice, so that artists who may not have the higher range of a soprano can perform the song.
Arrangements
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"Vocalise" transcribed for violin and piano
 Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin) and Monica Goldstein (piano) "Vocalise" for orchestra (1929 recording)
Rachmaninoff conducts his own arrangement for orchestra (Philadelphia Orchestra) |
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Vocalise has been arranged for many different instrument combinations. Examples are:
For/with orchestra
- for orchestra, arranged by Rachmaninoff himself, also by Morton Gould, Kurt Sanderling, and V. Kin
- for soprano and orchestra, also by Rachmaninoff himself, and by Arcady Dubensky
- for choir and orchestra, arranged by Norman Luboff and Walter Stoff
- for flute and orchestra, arranged by Charles Gerhardt
For chamber ensemble
- for flute choir (flute, alto flute, bass flute, contrabass flute, solo flute), arranged by [Andy Findon]
- for piano trio (violin, cello and piano), arranged by the Eroica Trio
- for clarinet, violin and piano, arranged by Quinto Maganini
- for jazz ensemble, arranged by Don Sebesky
- for 24 cellos, as performed by the London Cello Orchestra
For solo instrument and piano
- for clarinet and piano, arranged by Stanley Drucker
- for clarinet and piano, arranged by Thomas Swatland
- for clarinet and piano, arranged by David Campbell
- for trombone and piano, arranged by Christian Lindberg
- for trombone and piano, arranged by Henry Charles Smith
- for euphonium and piano, arranged by Steven Mead
- for tuba and piano, arranged by Virginia Allen
- for violin and piano, arranged by Jascha Heifetz
- for cello and piano, arranged by Jascha Heifetz and Mstislav Rostropovich
- for cello and piano, arranged by Wolfram Huschke
- for cello and piano, arranged by Raphael Wallfisch
- for double bass and piano, arranged by Stuart Sankey
- for double bass and piano, arranged by Oscar G. Zimmerman (in D minor)
- for saxophone and piano, arranged by John Harle
- for horn and piano, transcribed by Himie Voxman
- for viola and piano, arranged by Leonard Davis
- for oboe and piano, arranged by Humbert Lucarelli
- for bassoon and piano, arranged by Leonard Sharrow (in C minor)
- for bassoon and piano, arranged by J. Michael Leonard (in E minor)
For solo instrument
- for solo piano, many arrangements, including by Alexander Siloti, Alan Richardson (1951), Zoltán Kocsis, Earl Wild, and Anton Borodin (2003)
- for accordion, arranged by Nikolai Ryskov
- for double bass, arranged by Gary Karr
- for guitar, arranged by Slash
- for organ, arranged by David Briggs and Patricia Bird
- for saxophone, arranged by Larry Teal
- for theremin, arranged by Thorwald Jørgensen[2]
- for trumpet, arranged by Rolf Smedvig
Other
- for two pianos, arranged by Vitya Vronsky
- for electronic instruments, arranged by Isao Tomita
- for theremin with piano, arranged by Clara Rockmore
References
- ↑ "What's new on Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 'Vocalise'". Henle.de. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
- ↑ Mclennan, Pam (8 July 2014). "Thorwald Jørgensen: Good Vibrations Make the Music (+Video)". Epoch Times. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
External links
- History of the work, based on current research by music publishing house G. Henle
- Review of a CD consisting entirely of different arrangements of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise
- 14 Romances, Op. 34: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Performance of Vocalise by pianist Gleb Ivanov from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
