"Every
time I hear it I go to pieces!"
Thus
exclaims a breathless Marilyn Monroe in the movie, The
Seven Year Itch. As the character Candy
Kane, she is listening to Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2
in C Minor, one of the most sensuous and romantic pieces of music
ever written.
It
owes its existence to hypnosis.
Even
if you're not inclined towards classical music, you'd probably
recognize some of the tunes from this beautiful piano concerto. Three
best-selling pop singles were created out of its lush melodies:
"Full Moon and Empty Arms" was popularized by crooners
Frank Sinatra and Perry Como, "I Will Bring You Music" was
a later adaptation, and in 1976 Eric Carmen extracted yet a third
song to hit the pop charts, entitling it "All By Myself (Don't
wanna be all by myself)."
Other
stars besides Monroe have had their onscreen passions ignited and
highlighted by the surging melodies of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano
Concerto. This list of lovers includes Greta Garbo, John Barrymore,
Elizabeth Taylor, Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour in such films
as Grand Hotel, Brief
Encounter, I've
Always Loved You, Rhapsody,
September Affair, The
Seven-Year Itch and Somewhere
in Time.
The
Second Piano Concerto is not the only popular piece written by
Rachmaninoff. Many movies, including Groundhog
Day and Shine,
have featured other of his compositions. In fact, some of the
highest ranked 20th-century film and Broadway composers admitted
openly that they mimicked Rachmaninoff's style and borrowed liberally
from his melodic patterns.
We
have hypnosis to thank.
Sergei
Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was born in Russia. He fled the Communist
regime in 1917, and spent the final two decades of his life in the
United States, where he lived in New York City and Beverly Hills. But
our story begins when Rachmaninoff was only 24 years old.
The
young composer, who had studied with Tchaikovsky, had already
received some small success by the time his First Symphony was
scheduled for its premiere in St. Petersburg. That premiere was, in
Hollywood terms, a flop! The conductor was reputed to have been
drunk, and the performance was such an abysmal failure that the
agonized composer rushed out of the orchestra hall before the
symphony finished, and cringed in shame during the reception that followed.
"It
is true that the performance was beneath contempt,"
he later wrote, "...but apart from
this, its deficiencies were revealed to me with a dreadful
distinctness even during the first rehearsal."
The
critics were vicious. One well respected critic scathingly remarked
in the newspapers the next day that Rachmaninoff would surely win
first place for his symphony "if there were a conservatory in hell."
Rachmaninoff
struggled unsuccessfully to continue composing, and finally stopped
trying altogether. The young man sank into a deep depression which
lasted for three years.
"Something
within me snapped," he said. "All
my self-confidence broke down....
A
paralyzing apathy possessed me. I did nothing at all and found no
pleasure in anything. Half my days were spent on a couch sighing over
my ruined life. My only occupation consisted in giving a few piano
lessons in order to keep myself alive."
The
composer's depression was further compounded when he visited Leo
Tolstoy, and played some of his compositions on the piano for the
great Russian writer. Tolstoy, (who later apologized for his
rudeness), said to Rachmaninoff, "Tell
me, is such music needed by anybody?...I must tell you how I dislike
it all!" The young man was devastated.
During
these dark years, Rachmaninoff was living with some of his cousins.
Worried about his health, they finally urged him to visit a
psychiatrist in Moscow, a certain Dr. Nicolai Dahl, who happened to
be a pioneer in the field of hypnosis. Dr. Dahl was gaining a
reputation for successfully curing people through autosuggestion, and
had devoted his career to this work. Coincidentally, he was also an
excellent amateur musician, a string player.
Rachmaninoff,
desperate to try anything, agreed to consult with Dr. Dahl. His
sessions were frequent, and lasted over a period of four months.
Rachmaninoff,
in his Recollections, described the scenario:
"My
relatives had informed Dr. Dahl that he must by all means cure me of
my apathetic condition and bring about such results that I would
again be able to compose.
"Dr.
Dahl had inquired what kind of composition was required of me, and
he was informed, 'a concerto for pianoforte,' for I had promised this
to people in London and had given up in despair the idea of writing it.
"In
consequence, I heard repeated day after day the same hypnotic
formula, as I lay half asleep in an armchair in Dr. Dahl's study:
'You will start to compose a concerto - You will work with the
greatest of ease - The composition will be of excellent quality.' It
was always the same, without interruption.
"Although
it may sound impossible to believe, this treatment really helped me.
I began to compose at the beginning of the summer. The material grew
in volume, and new musical ideas began to well up within me, many
more than I needed for my concerto....
"I
felt that Dr. Dahl's treatment had strengthened my nervous system to
a degree almost miraculous. Out of gratitude I dedicated my Second
Concerto to him."
Although
it has been 100 years since Rachmaninoff composed his Second Piano
Concerto, its lyrical magic has survived the hackings of the record
industry and the melodramatic applications of Hollywood. Today,
thanks to hypnosis, it remains one of the most exquisite and deeply
moving pieces of music ever written.
How to Stop Smoking with Hypnosis
