ANDREW DAVIS - THE ISLE OF THE DEAD

THE ISLE OF THE DEAD,

ANDREW DAVIS

RACHMANINOV: SYMPHONIC POEM OP. 29

COMPOSER: RACHMANINOV

ALBUM: SYMPHONIC DANCES; THE ISLE OF THE DEAD & THE ROCK

LABEL: FINLANDIA RECORDS

GENRE: CLASSICAL

YEAR: 1997

Isle of the Dead, Op. 29, is a symphonic poem composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, written in the key of A minor. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden in 1908. It is considered a classic example of Russian late-Romanticism of the beginning of the 20th century.

The piece was inspired by a black and white reproduction of Arnold Böcklin's painting, Isle of the Dead, which Rachmaninoff saw in Paris in 1907. Rachmaninoff was disappointed by the original painting when he later saw it, saying, "If I had seen first the original, I, probably, would have not written my Isle of the Dead. I like it in black and white."