The Quotation, Connotation And Instrumentation Of The Dies Irae As Used By Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff( 1873-1943) was acknowledgedly as a great compose, pianist and conductor of Russian in the 20 th century. His especially significant and influential accomplishment made him a particular figure in the profound change in the history of music. It is the Dies Irae as used by Rachmaninoff that this dissertation is focused on. It discussed both his methods to the use of the chant on the one hand, and the aesthetic connotation of the chant in his music on the other, illustrated by variations on a theme of corelli, explores the chants he adopted in his work.The dissertation consists of the introduction, the main body and conclusion. The main body includes three parts. Besides, the score of the Dies Irae is attached as appendix.The first chapter is a resume of the Dies Irae and a review of the history of works which quotes the Dies Irae. The second chapter illustrates by variations on a theme of corelli, and analyses detailedly the quotation of the Dies Irae as used by Rachmaninoff. It is divided into four catefories, one-note, two-note, three-note and combinative-note. The third chapter is made up of three sections. The first section, with society and individual as its point of departure, discusses the reason of the Dies Irae as used by Rachmaninoff. The second section explores the connotation of the Dies Irae as used by Rachmaninoff in his work, variations on a theme of corelli. The third section elaborates this variation in aspect of instrumentation.All in all, the quotation of the Dies Irae as used by Rachmaninoff is a model in the history of music.