How Rachmaninoff Writes a Melody | Piano Concerto No. 2 Analysis

The chances are you know this melody - the reason being that out of Rachmaninoff’s many, many intoxicating melodies this is possibly his finest: the 2nd subject from the iconic 1st movement of his Piano Concerto No. 2. At the very least, it’s his most famous, thanks in part to the work’s abundance in film and television. But this broad cultural appeal is certainly no accident; there’s something special about this melody, so let’s figure out how Rachmaninoff writes it… Intro: 0:00 Motifs: 0:41 Phrases: 1:35 The Section: 2:37 The Movement: 4:53 The Concerto: 6:33 Outro: 9:00 Very many thanks to The Oslo Philharmonic, Vasily Petrenko and Håvard Gimse for permission to feature their stunning performance of this work, the video for which can be viewed here: