b'Sergei Rachmaninoff *Born April 1, 1873, SemyonovoDied March 28, 1943, Beverly HillsSymphonic Dances, Op. 45Arranged for solo piano by Inon Barnatan* Notes for this work by Eric Bromberger in collaboration with Inon Barnatan (for La Jolla Summerfest)Composed 1940 in Orchard Point, Long Island Original Premiere1941Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Normandy, conductorLivestream Premiere as Piano Solo July 2020Caramoor Center for Music andthe ArtsInstrumentation solo pianoDuration 34 minutesRachmaninoff spent the summer of 1940 at Orchard Point, a seventeen-acre estate on Long Island that had groves, orchards, and a secluded studio where he could work in peace. There, very near the East and West Eggs of Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, Rachmaninoff set to work on what would be his final complete work, a set of dances for orchestra. By August, he had the score complete in a version for two pianos, andbecause he regarded this as a dance scorehe consulted with choreographer Mikhail Fokine, a neighbor that summer. Rachmaninoff tentatively titled the piece Fantastic Dances and gave its three movements namesNoon, Twilight, and Midnightthat might suggest a possible scenario. Fokine liked the music when Rachmaninoff played it for him, and they began to look ahead to a ballet production, but Fokines death shortly thereafter ended any thought of that. Even by the end of the summer, though, Rachmaninoff appears to have rethought the character of this music. By the time he completed the orchestration on October 29, he had changed its name to Symphonic Dances and dropped the descriptive movement titles, and when Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra gave the premiere on January3, 1941, it was as a purely orchestral composition. Rachmaninoff himself seemed surprised by what he had created, and princetonsymphony.org/ 17'