Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, written in the key of C minor, is one of the Russian composer's most famous pieces. It is written in a traditional concerto form:

1. Moderato
2. Adagio sostenuto
3. Allegro scherzando

The first movement begins with a piano introduction in F minor, before developing into the C minor key (and playing in ensemble with the orchestra). It introduces the recurring theme that will last throughout the concerto. While the first movement is very romantic and wistful in nature, it also is sometimes quite maestoso musically. The second movement is a slow adagio, while the last movement is a lighter, however quite difficult (yet still romantic) scherzo-like piece. The third movement features the recurrence of the theme first heard in the the first movement and ends with the traditional, Rachmaninoff-esque rhythmic and loud ending.

The second piano concerto is known for its difficulty and the size of the hands required to play this piece. At some parts of the concerto, the pianist is required to stretch one hand 9 whole steps (a very large interval to reach on the piano).

This concerto is now one of the most popular ones, performed worldwide. Multiple recordings exist; one of the recordings of this piece was performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the London Symphony Orchestra.