Rachmaninoff, Sergei. ...

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Rachmaninoff, Sergei. Typed letter signed ("S. Rachmaninoff"), in Cyrillic, 1 page (10.62 x 7.12 in.; 270 x 181 mm.), Lucerne, 29 August 1937, to a correspondent named Michael, on Villa Lenar Hertenstein by Luzern imprinted stationery; light browning, imprint of paperclip upper left margin, minor chipping upper margin. Accompanied by a photograph of the composer inscribed and signed, To Mrs. Clifford Ellisson, Sincerely, Sergei Rachmaninoff, in English (5 x 7 in.; 127 x 178 mm.), [no place, no date]. Rachmaninoff discusses his ideas on variations of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The composer writes in full: Dear Mikhail Mikhailovich! I have not been able to catch you lately. I called you on 15/8 in Lucerne (you had been at our place on 13/8) and got an answer that you had left yesterday. Upon receipt of your letter yesterday, I called you in Montreux and got the same response: he left yesterday. Where to? I do not know the address. You are like a meteorite or, more poetically, like a young moon. I will try to send this letter to London. I wanted to tell you about the Rhapsody, that I would be very happy, if you made something out of it. Last night I was thinking about the plot, and here is what came to my head: it is only a general outline, the details are still in the fog for me. What if I revived the legend about Paganini, who traded his soul to the Evil Spirit for artistic perfection and for a woman? All variations from dies ire is the Evil Spirit. The entire middle, from variation 11 to 18, is love episodes. Paganini himself makes his appearance (initial entrance) in the "Theme," and, defeated, makes his final entrance in variation 23 - the first 12 times - after which, until the end, it is the triumph of the victors. The first appearance of the Evil Spirit is variation 7, where, at number 19, there could be a dialogue with Paganini on his emerging theme together with dies ire. Variations 8, 9, 10 - development of the Evil Spirit. Variation 11 - passage to the sphere of love. Variation 12, minuet, - the initial appearance of a woman lasts until variation 18. Variation 13 is Paganini's first declaration of love to a woman. Variation 19 is triumph of Paganini's art, his devilish pizzicato. It would be nice to see Paganini with a violin, not a real one, of course, but with some concocted, fantastic one. And, also, it seems to me that at the end of the piece some of the characters of the Evil Spirit, in the struggle for the woman and art, should resemble in caricature, in caricature without fail, Paganini himself. And should be here with violins that are even more fantastically ugly. Are you going to laugh at me? I would like to see you so much to be able to tell you in more detail about it all, if only my thoughts and the plot look to be of interest and value to you. Your S. Rakhmaninov Due to his busy concert career, Rachmaninoff's output as composer slowed tremendously. In the 25 years between 1918 and his death in 1943, while living in the U.S. and Europe, he completed only six compositions. Aside from the need to tour and perform constantly to support himself and his family, the main reason was homesickness. It was during these years that he toured the United States as a concert pianist. When he left Russia, it was as if he had left behind his inspiration. His revival as a composer became possible only after he had built himself a new home, Villa Senar on Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, where he spent summers from 1932 to 1939. There, in the comfort of his own villa, which reminded him of his old family estate, Rachmaninoff composed the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, one of his best-known works, in 1934. He went on to compose his Symphony No. 3 (Op. 44, 1935-36) and the Symphonic Dances (Op. 45, 1940), his last completed work.