Rachmaninoff refered to his Third Concerto as his "piece for elephants." If this is true, his Second Sonata would have to be his piece for rhinocerouses. It is similar structurally and technically to the concerto. Composed in 1913, the sonata, like the Third Concerto of 1909, was not an instant success with the public. It's technical challenges and musical layers transcended almost everything else in the literature at the time. With great thanks to the genious of Rachmaninoff and his surperior understanding of the keyboard, this work's technical feats are made bearable for the trained pianist. The musical aspects, on the other hand, are less conquerable. There are few who have been able to express this work well. Rachmaninoff left us with no recording, and quite frankly, he didn't like the piece. It brought him a great deal of frustration. As with his Third Concerto, Rachmaninoff felt that Horowitz played the Second Sonata better than himself and considered Horowitz's performance authoritative. In fact, after Rachmaninoff revised this work and was still dissasisfied with its setting, he gave Horowitz indefinite authority to do with the work what he pleased. The details regarding this sonata and Horowitz's changes are discussed in detail in these webpages. In 1986 John Browning recorded and did a great amount of research on the original version of this sonata. His findings and research are presented here as well. When appropriate or interesting, I have added further information to Browning's text. In the Recordings section, I have included reviews of the recordings in my collection and links to where you can buy the CD and see the tracking info.

Rachmaninoff began work on the Second Sonata three years after the publication of his Third Piano Concerto. After an exhausting winter, he made the decision to spend the summer of 1913 in Rome. "In Rome I was able to take the same flat on the Piazza di Spagna which Modest Tchaikovsky had used for a long time and which had served his brother as a temporary retreat from his numerous friends... All day long I spent at the piano or the writing table, and not until the sinking sun gilded the pines on the Monte Pincio did I put away my pen. In this way I finished my Second Sonata for pianoforte... which I long to revise as I am not satisfied with the setting I gave it at that time. This I dedicated to the friend of my boyhood, Pressmann." The autograph gives the date and place of completion for the first movement as 12 August 1913, Ivanovka and for the second and third movements as 18 September 1913, Moscow. Although there appears to have been a performance by the composer in November 1913 at St. Petersburg, most commentators cite 3 December 1913, Moscow, as the official premiere.

(David Cannata, who is presently researching the Rachmaninoff sources, tells me that in making his final draft for the publisher, Rachmaninoff, working with multiple staves, made numerous last-minute changes, thinning textures and re-writing many passages-- all of which can be seen in the manuscript.)

Program Notes from the International Music Company Edition of this Sonata edited by John Browning

Here are images of the program from the concert when Rachmaninoff first performed this monumental work in 1913.
Click to enlarge.