Variations on a theme of Corelli,
Op. 42 played by Joan Boulter (pianoforte)
This set of twenty Variations on a Theme of Corelli written in the summer of 1932 and dedicated to Fritz Kreisler , is one of the most important of Rachmaninoff's more recent works. Several of the variations foreshadow others in the later
' Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini ' for piano and orchestra.
The theme is not actually by Corelli but is the famous sixteenth-century Portuguese dance tune, known as ' La Folia', or 'Folies d'Espagne', on which Corelli himself wrote a celebrated set of variations. The tune has also been used by Vivaldi, Lully, Pergotesi, Bach, Gretry, and Cherubini.