The Man Playing His Own Music! How Great is That?

Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 by Sergei Rachmaninoff
This lovely music was used by one of the women skaters at the recent US Figure Skating Championships in Portland, Oregon. I've listened to my cassette tape of this selection so often that I've worn it out. "This would be a good time to replace it", I thought to myself this morning. That got me to Amazon.Com. "Most people would find it difficult to name the source of one of the most popular melodies heard today. It is the 18th variation from Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 43 by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The Rhapsody was written in 1934 and premiered shortly after. Although it received mixed reviews, it was very popular with audiences. The Rhapsody is written for solo piano and orchestra. The difficult piano part is sometimes beautiful, sometimes intense, and always musically interesting. The work is based on a appealing and often used theme by Niccolo Paganini. The Rhapsody also includes the well known Dies Irae melody. The work is programmatic. It tells the legend of Paganini's dealings with the devil, his love of a woman, his troubles with the church, and his final defeat. The variations span styles from lyrical and delicate to brittle and intense. This work is not always considered great musical literature. However, it is frequently performed and remains an audience favorite." http://www.mid-mo.net/slgreene/rhap.htm