– Composer: Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1 April 1873 — 28 March 1943)
– Orchestra: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
– Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
– Year of recording: 1997
Painting: “Isle of the Dead” 3rd version (Arnold Böcklin 1883)
The Isle of the Dead, Symphonic poem, Op. 29, written in 1908-1909.
Rachmaninoff was inspired by Arnold Böcklin’s painting, Isle of the Dead, which he saw in Paris in 1907. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden in 1908. It is considered a classic example of Russian late-Romanticism at the beginning of the 20th century.
The music begins by suggesting the sound of the oars of Charon as they meet the waters of the river Styx. Rachmaninoff then uses a recurring figure in 5/8 time to depict what may be the rowing of the oarsman or the movement of the water, and as in several other of his works, quotes the Dies Irae plainchant, an allusion to death. In contrast to the theme of death, the 5/8 time also depicts breathing, creating a holistic reflection on how life and death are intertwined. It is one of the most natural sounding uses of a 5/8 meter in music I have ever heard.
In 1929, Rachmaninoff conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in a recording of the music for the Victor Talking Machine Company, which was purchased by RCA that same year and became known as RCA Victor. This recording was made in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, using one microphone, and was later reissued on LP and CD by RCA Victor.