Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Jonathan James
Friday, November 1, 2019

This is one of the two set works chosen by IB for assessment from 2020, and it allows students to approach many different concepts and themes: Romanticism and Rachmaninov's place as the ‘last great Romantic’; variation form and its Baroque history; and both instrumentation and orchestration. The Rhapsody also, as we will find out, tells a distinct story, something that's always a helpful teaching prop, and way in to listening. This resource will pick up on these core aspects, and is accompanied by a Spotify playlist (https://open.spotify.com/user/jonpjames/playlist/4a8r1nDRNFGz6P0HNj4z9O?si=SnUInVxXT6mMrx4MjsjJMA) for quick reference and illustration.