Vocalise, Op.34/14
"Vocalise" was the last of a set of 14 songs, Op.34, written by Rachmaninov in 1912 for voice and piano. Uniquely, it is wordless – a pure melody, unfolding at rapturous length over gently shifting harmonies. It’s been transcribed for every imaginable solo instrument and is a wonderful reminder of just what a gifted miniaturist Rachmaninov was, aside from his epic symphonies and concertos – and how expressively he could shape a long melody. A haunting, indefinable mixture of radiant contentment and aching melancholy, "Vocalise" is a song in which words would truly be superfluous.
R.G. Bratby 2001
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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