Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances
Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast
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The First Symphony by Rachmananov
Rachmananov was obsessed with the Dias Ire, he used it in many of his works and enacted as a sort of symbol for fate and death. He inserted a quotation from the opening melody of the first symphony which is this. This melody is also heavily influenced by the Gregorian chant for the day of wrath. Remember, no one hearing this piece during Rachmananova's lifetime would have heard the first Symphony so this was a private personal reflection on that terrible experience.
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