Isle of the Dead (Rachmaninoff)

Isle of the Dead, Op.

Opus number

Opus , from the Latin word opus meaning "work", is usually used in the sense of "a work of art".The Latin plural of opus, "opera", is used to refer to the genre of music drama Opus (plural opera or opuses), from the Latin word opus meaning "work", is usually used in the sense of "a work of art".The...

 29 is a symphonic poem

Symphonic poem

A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...

 composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, the last great representative of Russian late Romanticism in classical music...

. Rachmaninoff was inspired by Arnold Böcklin

Arnold Böcklin

Arnold Böcklin was a symbolist Swiss painter.-Life and art:He studied at Düsseldorf where he became a friend of Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach. Originally a landscape painter, his travels through Brussels, Zurich, Geneva and Rome, exposed him to classical and Renaissance art, and the Mediterranean...

's painting, Isle of the Dead

Isle of the Dead (painting)

Isle of the Dead is the best known painting of Swiss Symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin . Prints of the work were very popular in central Europe in the early 20th century...

, which he saw in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1907. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 in 1908. It is considered a classic example of Russian late-Romanticism

Romantic music

Romantic music is a musicological term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in European music history, from about 1800 to 1900....

 of the beginning of the 20th century.

The music begins by suggesting the sound of the oars of Charon

Charon (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon was the ferryman of Hades who carried souls of the newly deceased across the River Styx that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a...

 as they meet the waters of the river Styx

Styx

Styx may refer to:* Styx , the river that forms the boundary between the Greek underworld and the world of the living, as well as a goddess and a nymph that represent the river.-Popular culture:* Styx , an American rock band...

.

Isle of the Dead, Op.

Opus number

Opus , from the Latin word opus meaning "work", is usually used in the sense of "a work of art".The Latin plural of opus, "opera", is used to refer to the genre of music drama Opus (plural opera or opuses), from the Latin word opus meaning "work", is usually used in the sense of "a work of art".The...

 29 is a symphonic poem

Symphonic poem

A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...

 composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He was one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, the last great representative of Russian late Romanticism in classical music...

. Rachmaninoff was inspired by Arnold Böcklin

Arnold Böcklin

Arnold Böcklin was a symbolist Swiss painter.-Life and art:He studied at Düsseldorf where he became a friend of Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach. Originally a landscape painter, his travels through Brussels, Zurich, Geneva and Rome, exposed him to classical and Renaissance art, and the Mediterranean...

's painting, Isle of the Dead

Isle of the Dead (painting)

Isle of the Dead is the best known painting of Swiss Symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin . Prints of the work were very popular in central Europe in the early 20th century...

, which he saw in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1907. He concluded the composition while staying in Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

 in 1908. It is considered a classic example of Russian late-Romanticism

Romantic music

Romantic music is a musicological term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in European music history, from about 1800 to 1900....

 of the beginning of the 20th century.

The music begins by suggesting the sound of the oars of Charon

Charon (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon was the ferryman of Hades who carried souls of the newly deceased across the River Styx that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a...

 as they meet the waters of the river Styx

Styx

Styx may refer to:* Styx , the river that forms the boundary between the Greek underworld and the world of the living, as well as a goddess and a nymph that represent the river.-Popular culture:* Styx , an American rock band...

. Rachmaninoff then uses a recurring figure in 5/8 time to depict what may be the rowing of the oarsman or the movement of the water, and as in several other of his works, quotes the Dies Irae

Dies Irae

Dies Irae is a famous thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano. It is a medieval Latin poem, differing from classical Latin by its accentual stress and its rhymed lines. The meter is trochaic...

plainchant

Plainsong

Plainsong is a body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church. The liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, though similar in many ways and probably older than the Roman tradition, are generally not classified as plainsong...

, an allusion to death. In contrast to the theme of death, the 5/8 time also depicts breathing, creating a holistic reflection on how life and death are intertwined.