Suite No. 1 (Rachmaninoff)


Suite No. 1 in G Minor , Op. 5, is a work for two pianos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Written in the summer of 1893 at the Lysikof estate in Lebeden, Kharkov, it was initially titled Fantaisie-tableaux because Rachmaninoff intended it, as he explained in a letter to his cousin Sofia Satin, to consist "of a series of musical pictures." Dedicated to Tchaikovsky, the work was premiered on November 30, 1893, by Rachmaninoff himself and Pavel Pabst, in Moscow. Its four movements are:
  1. Barcarolle. Allegretto, in G minor.
  2. La nuit... L'amour... Adagio sostenuto, in D major.
  3. Les Larmes. Largo di molto, in G minor.
  4. Pâques. Allegro maestoso, in G minor.
Rachmaninoff composed a second suite for two pianos in 1901.
The Suite No. 1 was arranged for piano and orchestra by Rebekah Harkness. A 1968 recording by Jorge Mester and the London Philharmonic Orchestra was released in 1994 on Citadel Records.