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• 1 2025-07-06T19:25:13-04:00 “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Sergei Rachmaninoff, contributed by Helaine Zhao (2025) 2 plain 2025-07-06T19:25:31-04:00
  “Somewhere in Time” is a movie, made in 1980, where the main character, Richard, goes back in time and meets the love of his life, Elise. When he is pulled back to the present and can no longer return to her, he suffers a heartbreaking loss that leads to his death. The movie was not especially famous, but its soundtrack was an enormous hit. Although the main theme, “Somewhere in Time,” written by John Barry, is an amazing piece filled with grief and longing, I chose Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Variation 18 (also played during the movie), because of its extensive history and beautiful encapsulation of grief. Its impact extends beyond the movie to all instances of grief and, when listening to it, I hear beauty, remembrance, longing, anger, and hope. I believe that people suffering from grief can find a connection with this piece; it can be the beauty in the beginning as the bereaved remembers past memories, or the anger/denial in the middle section as the harmonic progression turns from major to minor and diminished chords, or the depression as the piece falls from its climax to an extended minor section, and eventually to acceptance as the piece ends with a final, low echo of the beginning theme. Connecting it to the composer, I believe that Rachmaninoff was able to encapsulate this grief and loss so well because of his own experience with loss. He and his sister, Sofiya, both contracted diphtheria, and his sister’s death led him to have a lifelong fear of dying. His music serves as an artistic expression of this fear and as a way for him to cope with the traumatic losses he experienced in his childhood. Whether it is in connection with the film or as a standalone piece, I believe that Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Variation 18, is a beautiful work that could help anyone suffering from loss to find some connection and understanding in their grief.