To Rachmaninov his Symphony № 1 (Op. 13 in D minor) was a test that tempered his artistic will. Following the failure of its premiere performance under A.Glazunov direction it took the composer a long time to recover from serious depression and produce another composition. Even decades later he did not revisit the symphony, though mentioned his intention to revise it in his letters. In fact, the symphony was lost: it was never played in his lifetime, and the scores were destroyed. Fifty years after the symphony was composed the scores were restored from the incidentally found in M. P. Belyaev’s archives parts written for the orchestra and outlines for a four hand transcription. The restoration was initiated by A. V. Ostrovsky and his friends B. G. Shalman and A. V. Gauk. Thanks to their efforts the symphony was played for the second time in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on October 17, 1945 by the State USSR Symphony Orchestra under the direction of A. V. Gauk, but the composer had already died.

In retrospect it is safe to say that the symphony failed not so much because of music itself, as critics wrote after its first night, but rather because of its poor performance.
In his letter to B. V. Asafiev of April 13, 1917 S. V. Rachmaninov, regarding his First Symphony, wrote: “…What am I to say? Written in 1895. Played in 1897. Failed, but it proves nothing. Many good things have often met with failure, and many bad ones have been a success. I thought of the Symphony too much before it was played and completely changed my mind after the performance. The truth seems to be somewhere in between…”

According to those close to the composer, the autographed scores bore the same inscription as L. N. Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” “Vengeance is Mine, I will Repay” giving reason to presume a certain philosophical and ideological relation with the composer’s outlook.

The symphony core theme is derived from the Old Russian liturgical melody going throughout its parts as a leading-motive.

It concludes with a victory of fate typical for the Moscow symphony school. The composer seemed to anticipate his coming depression, and his everyday life was overshadowed by doom.

Vocalise – “a song without words” added to the cycle of songs (Op. 34) was written in 1915 and dedicated to the outstanding Russian singer A. V. Nezhdanova.

A sweeping Russian melody is given the form of a baroque aria typical of Bach. The main melody is similar to varying tunes that alternate producing the impression of uninterrupted “fluidity” of voice. A marvelous softness and beauty of the lament made Vocalise one the most famed compositions by Rachmaninov that can be heard not only in his transcription, but in many others for various instruments. The disc presents its transcription for orchestra written by Director V. Kin.