Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2

Hey!!!

This is one of Rachmaninoff's most famous works: Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2. I took 4 days (1 hour of practice each day) to get to this point.

This is some background knowledge of the piece (as quoted from Wikipedia):

"The prelude is organized into three main parts and a coda. Three opening chords at fortissimo introduce the grim C sharp minor tonality that dominates the piece. The cadential motif repeats throughout. In the third measure, the volume changes to a pianississimo for the exposition of the theme. The second part is propulsive and marked Agitato (agitated), beginning with highly chromatic triplets. This passionately builds to interlocking chordal triplets that descend into a climactic recapitulation of the main theme, this time in four staves to accommodate the volume of notes. Certain chords in the section are marked with quadruple sforzando. The piece closes with a brief seven-measure coda which ends quietly.The prelude became one of Rachmaninoff's most famous compositions. His cousin Alexander Siloti was instrumental in securing the Prelude's success throughout the Western world. In the autumn of 1898, he made a tour of Western Europe and the United States, with a program that contained the Prelude. Soon after, London publishers brought out several editions with titles such as The Burning of Moscow, The Day of Judgement, and The Moscow Waltz. America followed suit with other titles, such as The Bells of Moscow. Rachmaninoff came to loathe the piece as its fame overshadowed his other works. It was so popular that it was referred to as "The Prelude" and audiences would demand it as an encore at his performances, shouting "C sharp!" It was recorded by the composer both electrically and on Ampico piano rolls."

I interpreted the final passage of the piece rather differently from other concert pianists so as to offer my own interpretative view of the passage. My interpretation of the mood "climatic" in the last passage does not involve banging the keys the whole way, but instead offering a range of dynamics throughout the last passage, from extreme "fortissimo" to extreme "piano". I followed Ashkenazy's interpretation of the piece closely for the first and second passages ("Lento" and "Agitato"), albeit stepping up the tempo a smidge in the first passage.

I believe there is room for improvement before I play this piece in an upcoming recital. Nevertheless, I'm sufficiently happy with the quality and tonality of the melody thus far, and decided to share my take on the piece with all of you. ^__^

Hope you enjoy it!!! Rate, and leave a comment. :)

Note: This piece is a killer. I had to stretch my hands to a painful extend to accommodate for the four staves of chords in the last passage. I don't think I'm going to fancy another Rachmaninoff's piece in the nearest future. @.@"""

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Sergei
• Vasilievich
• Rachmaninoff
• Rachmaninov
• prelude
• ashkenazy
• in
• sharp
• minor
• op.3
• no.2
• #2
• piano
• russia
• 前奏
• 前奏曲
• прелюдия
• Рахманинов
• ラフマニノフ
• romantic
• classical
• music
• 拉赫曼尼諾夫
• jeremytankhoonleong
• Jeremy
• Tan
• Khoon
• Leong

[ajitesh4892]

Everyone please don't pretend to be a fucking know-all! Don't comment on what to do and what not to; on this's wrong and that's incorrect; just' enjoy!

I don't want to see that day; when people will refer to YouTube comments on how to do things; instead of Google or Wikipedia!!!!

[jeremytankhoonleong]

@ajitesh4892 Cheers! :)

[ClarkWise]

You are very, very skilled technically, and you can learn pieces much more quickly than I. However, I feel that the piece lacked a little emotion. (That's the same problem I always have.) By my interpretation, I'd like to hear a much bigger difference between ppp and ffff. Also, this is a moody piece. Many notes are marked tenuto, so feel free to stretch notes and slow the ends of phrases for dramatic effect, especially during the "bell chiming" parts.

[jeremytankhoonleong]

I agree to your criticisms to a certain extend. Yeah, my video camera is bad in recording the fff and ppp parts; everything nearly blends in into one dynamic, due to the poor audio quality recording.

As for the bell, chiming parts, i feel that this one is very up to personal interpretation. Chimes don't reverberate in only one rhythm, so I did it to my own liking. There have been people who actually said that I should speed up the last passage, instead of slowing the end of the phrases.

[XsonronX]

I love this piece! And with your fantastic playing heh i love it even more. I believe the way you played was very touching. It gives me feeling of those movies in dark times quite sad too. Keep it up!

[thevoiceofthewounded]

This was well worth the practice....it sounds awesome.

[Florispiano]

please change that pedal..

[Paprikachiba]

Hey that was wonderful. I looked this song up on youtube to find a cheat guide on how to play cause im terrible at sight reading and better at figuring it out by listen. I'm allready learning it and im about half way through. The hand cross overs are driving me crazy! haha. its nice to hear a slower version so i can really hear whats going on instead of those insane fast ones. Your sight reading must bee amazing looking at the video. Great work and kudos :)

[onewickedchild]

Awesome !

[perkydoo]

Beautiful!

[MrRobot305]

The sound should be faint at the end. The intro of the second passage should be a increasing of speed from such a slower tempo. Don't just try to hit the exact keys with an unchanged frequency!