Victoria Rust
[To listen to the Elegie in E Flat Minor, please click here]
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Better
known for his explosive preludes rather than contemplative elegies, Sergei
Rachmaninoff was a philosopher of music. The unexpected softness and fluidity
of Elegie in E Flat Minor, Op. 3, No
1 sets itself apart from other, typical to Rachmaninoff, creations. The Elegie does not boast the dramatic,
virtuoso feel of the famous Prelude in C
Sharp Minor; rather, its sophisticated laconism of feeling -- sweet
melancholy – invites a quiet reflection.
Music, according to Hegel, is in the
center of the Romantic Arts, along with painting and poetry. It treats the
sensuous as ideal, and does so by “negating and idealizing the indifferent
externality of space into the individual isolation of a single point,” (Hegel
94). Rachmaninoff and his Steinway[1]
transform the indifference of space surrounding the audience, creating a
closed-in, self-contained world, in which the mind is invited to explore and
reflect. Elegie does not win the
listener with a catchy tune; rather, it captivates the heart with a combination
of waterfall and airiness, which is masterfully translated into music by the
virtuoso technique of the pianist and his genius as a composer.
In the Elegie, the sensuousness of the melody is captivating and
liberating at the same time. Being a multifaceted pianist with an astute
emotionality and grandiose technique, Rachmaninoff is capable of capturing more
than an emotion or passion in the music; he seems to share a part of a human
experience.
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We follow changing ‘voices’ of the Elegie with anticipation, never certain
about the outcome until the end. Characteristic of Rachmaninoff, the piece
modifies our expectations, often changing the keys and rhythmical patterns. The
Elegie does not allow for easy
framing: it is sad without being depressing; it is melancholic without being
banal. According to Rachmaninoff, our emotions are in a constant movement. Not
accidentally, the Elegie, with its
almost sublime sadness throughout, ends on a forte in a major key.
Music, in HegelÂ’s words, forms the point
of transition between “abstract spatial sensuousness, such as painting employs,
and the abstract spirituality of poetry” (94). The sensuousness of the artist,
however, never slips into a trivial, trite mode. The passion, the experience,
about which we are being told in the Elegie,
is elevated, almost sublime in its nature. The left hand melody does not
overshadow the right hand; it echoes and supports it. The tapestry of the music
is never broken, and yet, one is breathless waiting the melody to unfold.
The narrative of the Elegie, or “the abstract spirituality of poetry”, using Hegel’s
terms, is another example of the coherence and fluidity of the piece. During
the four minutes of the Elegie, a
story begins, continues and ends, pouring onto the audience a variety of
emotions, and celebrating the rejuvenating freedom of manÂ’s spirit.
The music, Hegel explains, liberates “the
ideal content in its immersion in matter.” Not suprisingly, the Elegie in E Flat Minor ‘paints’ various
landscapes by presenting the piece in two distinct parts. Russian vast steppes
with mighty rivers, a brutal winter and a long-awaited spring, perhaps, would
be one interpretation of the work. A human struggle with violent emotions and a
winning optimism could be another. An array of impressions and interpretations
constitutes a goal of the artist, for he or she does not create for
himself/herself alone.
By presenting an idea in a physical
(sound) form, music encourages mental participation by the audience. The
inwardness of matter, Hegel writes, and a soul’s inspiration into it “furnish
the medium for the mental inwardness Â… and for the soul into which mind
concentrates itself; and finds utterance in its tones for the heart with its
whole gamut of feelings” (95). It is important to note the laconism of emotion
in the Elegie. Despite its deviations
to stronger passions – even joy – in the middle and at the end, the piece is
melancholic in its nature throughout. The melancholy thus stands as a
self-contained, complex emotion, capable of producing an array of images.
Dripping with profound sensuality, the
sound of Elegie in E Flat Minor is
nevertheless devoid of kitschy dramatization and baroque-like[2]
embellishment. Music, as Hegel notes, has within itself, a “relation of
quantity conformable to the understanding, as the antithesis to emotion and
inwardness.” Feeling notwithstanding, beautiful
music must demonstrate a “solid conformity to law on the part of the tones, of
their conjunction.” The participation of the mind, so celebrated by Hegel,
constitutes a significant part of the virtuoso pianist and genius composer
Rachmaninoff. Music, as the Elegie
shows, is a creation of mind as much as it is a creation of heart. Although
music in general and Elegie in particular can be likened to a waterfall, rain,
storm or another natural occurrence, it cannot be denied a feeling, an emotion,
a narrative, an experience, which are, in essence, a creation of the mind, composed in 4:4 time, six flats and calculated measure.
It is true that the beauty of art
presents itself, according to Hegel, to “sense, feeling, perception or
imagination.” By affecting our emotional sensitivity, music, however, goes
beyond simple “relaxation and leisure of the mind,”(Hegel 6). Unless we are
prompted with an image (such as, for example during an opera or theatrical
performance), we are free to associate the melody with our own life experiences,
which presupposes active work of the mind. Thus, not accidentally, music is
believed to alleviate pain from a loss of something cherished or to aid in
creating an appropriate mood for meditation or reflection. RachmaninoffÂ’s Elegie in E Flat Minor is just that, an
intellectual tour de force, which forces reflection and heals the soul.
Work Cited
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. Introductory
Lectures on Aesthetics. Trans. By  Bernard
Bosanquet.
[1] Rachmaninoff played exclusively on Steinway [brand of a piano]. Usually, the instrument traveled with him across the ocean and was tuned by the same specialist. On very rare occasions, when for whatever reason, it was not feasible to transport RachmaninoffÂ’s instrument, the arrangements were made to provide the best Steinway available.
[2] I apologize in advance to those who enjoy baroque music. My point here is the simplicity versus embellishment.Â