Italian Polka

The polka is a Central European dance which originated in the 19th century in Bohemia, according to Wikipedia.  It is a lively dance with a fast tempo. Many composers have written polkas, and piano versions of polkas are popular as encore pieces.

The great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote his Polka Italienne or Italian Polka in 1906 for four hands, i.e. two players on one piano. There original version is lively but with rather  straightforward harmony, which is quite uncharacteristic of Rachmaninoff.



Here's a rare audio clip of Rachmaninoff (1938) playing it ... with his wife! It's an early recording so expect a lot of hiss, pop and crackle.

This piece has been a popular candidate for many derivative works or transcriptions. A flashy example is a two-piano version by Enrico Pace and Igor Roma (2013) in a style not unlike Liszt on two sparkling Fazioli pianos at the Fazioli Concert Hall.

Modern Russian pianist/composer V Gryaznov has been coming up with some interesting piano transciptions of different works recently, in a style quite similar to Rachmaninoff. This is a good thing as the world could do with more quality piano transcriptions!  In his arrangement/performance (2008) of this polka there are some very interesting reharmonization ideas. Look out for nicely crafted hidden inner melodies and Rachmaninoff-like riffs. It's quite tastefully done and sounds like something that Rachmaninoff would have transcribed himself. It starts off deceptively slow but soon picks up speed to an exciting pace. Perhaps he might have borrowed some ideas from Rachmaninoff's Polka de WR.

The highlight of this post is the super-virtuoso version - a Concert Paraphrase - by the powerful Russian pianist Arcadi Volodos (2006) performed at some outdoor music festival much to the delight of the crowd.  Can anyone identify which festival it is? Here creative reharmonization combines with finger-busting passages at breakneck speed. This is definitely Italian Polka on steroids. Volodos' arrangement has become a popular encore piece of many young pianists today.

For those who like reading notes here's a "follow-the score" version, also by Arcadi Volodos (2003). Like all virtuouso paraphrases each performance is tweaked by the pianist to be slightly different from each other. See if you can spot the differences between this version and the live version above. If you relish a challenge, trying playing it yourself for a good workout on the ivories!