No. 7 Zdes’ Khorosho

Rachmaninoff composed an astounding 83 Romances, and they include some of his finest and most memorable music. They are part of the Russian contribution to the great 19th-century stream of Romantic songs, and the composer cultivated the musical garden he inherited from Glinka and Tchaikovsky. Like Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff sought, above all, to capture the basic mood of a poetic text in a bright, melodic image, showing it in growth, dynamic intensity, and development.

In his Op. 21 Romanzas, dating from 1900 to 1902, Rachmaninoff provides a finely controlled balance between voice and accompaniment. And it is once again the piano that offers deep insight into the text. Zdes Korosho Op. 21, No. 7 (“How peaceful”), sets a poem by Countess Glafira Adolfoyna Einerling. She describes a sunset and contemplates the bond between man, nature, and God. Full of gentle lyricism, the music is seemingly simple, but it is easy to hear that the true essence of Rachmaninoff’s musical imagination is already found in these early romances.

How peaceful…
Look there, in the distance
Shines the river like a flame,
The fields lie like a flowered carpet
Light clouds above us…
Here there are no people…
Here there is silence…
Here is only God—and I,
Flowers—and an aging pine,
And you, my dream.

This arrangement for trumpet and piano is similar to one recorded by Sergei Nakariakov on “Élégie” (TELDEC CLASSICS, 1997), however I added trumpet to the melodic line at the end as well.

For Trumpet in C & Piano.