Hello again, everyone.

 

I write today because, well, I just feel I need to write.  Today we rehearsed Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, which is on the second half of this week’s program, and I had forgotten what a terrific piece it is.

 

I often have gotten questions in the past along the lines of “what is your favorite piece of music, or composer?”  And my reply usually goes along the lines of “whatever I have in my CD player at the time.”  When I’ve done several weeks of substitute organ work at my church, it’s not uncommon for my favorite composer to be J. S. Bach.  This week is a perfect example of this coming into play.

 

What Rachmaninoff does well, he does extremely well, especially in this piece.  I can’t think of any composer off the top of my head who can create an orchestral buildup and release of tension better than him (although there are others who do it probably as well), and certainly not in his particular style.  I have heard Rachmaninoff referred to as a “classical pop composer,” in the negative sense.   However, there is no doubt as to the effectiveness of his music to elicit emotion, and there is no doubt that this is one of the things which makes his music so popular (and one can certainly make the argument that just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it’s bad!).  

 

The other thing I’ve been thinking of is that, not having played this piece in quite some time, it’s refreshing to visit it again, to hear some of the little details I might have missed in the past.  I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

 

Enough for now....