Vocalise (Rachmaninoff)

[1] Written for high voice (soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment, it contains no words, but is sung using only one vowel of the singer's choosing (see also vocalise).

It is performed in various instrumental arrangements more frequently than in the original vocal version.

Though the original composition is in the key signature of C-sharp minor, it is sometimes transposed into a variety of keys, allowing a performer to choose a vocal range more suitable to the natural voice, so that artists who may not have the higher vocal range of a soprano can perform the song.

Examples are: also by Zoltán Kocsis Richard Smallwood adopted the main theme of "Vocalise" as the basis for his composition "The Resurrection", the final cut on The Richard Smallwood Singers' debut recording in 1982.

The Pet Shop Boys song "Happiness Is an Option" on their 1999 album Nightlife incorporates a large portion of the "Vocalise" melody in each verse, performed on oboe as background material beneath the spoken text.