Scherzo (Lamm, McAlister)

This early orchestral piece was composed in 1887, when Rachmaninoff was just fourteen years old. It shows the composer still at the beginning of his artistic development, yet already reveals the unmistakable melodic instinct and harmonic sensitivity that would come to define his later work.

The “Scherzo in D minor” has been preserved in an edition by Pavel Lamm and Norman McAlister, who critically examined the musical text and prepared it for performance practice. The work possesses the lively, sparkling character traditionally associated with the scherzo as a genre, while combining it with a youthful freshness and a lyrical middle section that already hints at the romantic voice of the maturing master.

For ensembles and conductors with an interest in rarities and rarely performed early works, the “Scherzo in D minor” offers a rewarding discovery: an authentic document from the student years of one of the most significant composers of late Romanticism.