Spring (Vesna), Op. 20, is a single-movement cantata for baritone, chorus and orchestra, written by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1902.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Rachmaninov-Sergey.jpg/170px-Rachmaninov-Sergey.jpg)
The work was finished after the famous Second Piano Concerto. Rachmaninoff intended to revise the cantata's orchestration but never did so.
Programme
editThe work is based on a poem by Nikolay Nekrasov and describes the return of the Zelyoniy shum, or "green rustle". The poem tells of a husband who, fraught with murderous thoughts towards his unfaithful wife during the winter season, is ultimately freed from his frustration and choler by the return of spring.
References
edit- Griffiths, Steve. "Spring Promise". The Musical Times. Musical Times Publications Ltd. 1994.
- Reither, Joseph. "Chronicle of Exile". Tempo. Cambridge University press. 1951.