The premiere, which took place in St. Petersburg on March 28, 1897, was an absolute failure for reasons which included under-rehearsal and the poor performance of the conductor Alexander Glazunov. Rachmaninoff subsequently suffered a psychological collapse, but did not destroy or disavow the score, which was left in Russia when he went into exile in 1917 and subsequently lost. In 1944, after the composer’s death, the separate instrumental parts of the symphony were discovered, and from these the full score was reconstructed. The symphony’s second performance took place at the Moscow Conservatory on October 17, 1945, conducted by Aleksandr Gauk. Following a general reassessment of Rachmaninoff’s music the First Symphony has been performed frequently, and has been recorded several times.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I Grave—Allegro non troppo

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II Allegro animato

III Larghetto

IV Allegro con fuoco

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Symphony Op. 13 No. 1 in D minor sheet music

Suite no. 2 Op. 17 IV. Tarentelle (Presto, in c minor) sheet music

Suite no. 2 Op. 17 III. Romance (Andantino, in A flat major) sheet music

Suite no. 2 Op. 17 II. Valse (Presto, in G major) sheetmusic

In contrast to the first Suite for two pianos, the work is not based on literature, and the form tends to approach the traditional suite. The movements are:

I. Introduction (Alla marcia, in C major)
II. Valse (Presto, in G major)
III. Romance (Andantino, in A flat major)
IV. Tarentelle (Presto, in c minor)

The most famous performance of this piece was in Los Angeles in the early 1940’s, just before Rachmaninov died. He and Vladimir Horowitz were at a party and played the piece, the last and only time they ever did.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Martha Argerich and Brigitte Meyer

Suite no. 2 Op. 17 sheet music

The work is fully representative of the composer’s late style with its curious, shifting harmonies, the almost Prokofiev-like grotesquerie of the outer movements and the focus on individual instrumental tone colors throughout (highlighted by his use of an alto saxophone in the opening dance). The opening three-note motif, introduced quietly but soon reinforced by heavily staccato chords and responsible for much of the movement’s rhythmic vitality, is reminiscent of the Queen of Shemakha’s theme in Rimsky-Korsakoff’s opera The Golden Cockerel, the only music by another composer he had taken out of Russia with him in 1917. The Dances allowed him to indulge in a nostalgia for the Russia he had known, much as he had done in the Third Symphony, as well as to effectively sum up his lifelong fascination with ecclesiastical chants. He quotes in the first dance the opening theme of his First Symphony, itself derived from motifs characteristic of Russian church music. In the finale he quotes both the Dies irae and the chant “Blessed be the Lord” (Blagosloven yesi, Gospodi) from his Vespers.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, side drum, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells, harp, piano, and strings.

Movements

1. Non allegro
2. Andante con moto (Tempo di valse)
3. Lento assai – Allegro vivace – Lento assai. Come prima – Allegro vivace.

Background

Rachmaninoff composed the Symphonic Dances four years after his Third Symphony, mostly at the Honeyman estate, “Orchard Point”, in Centerport, New York, overlooking Long Island Sound. Its original name was Fantastic Dances, with movement titles of “Noon,” “Twilight” and “Midnight.” While the composer had written conductor Eugene Ormandy in late August that the piece was finished and needed only to be orchestrated, the manuscript for the full score bears completion dates of September and October 1940. It was premiered by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, to whom it is dedicated, on January 3, 1941.

The Dances combine energetic rhythmic sections, reminiscent of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, with some of the composer’s lushest melodies. The rhythmic vivacity, a characteristic of Rachmaninoff’s late style, may have been further heightened here for two reasons. First, he had been encouraged by the success of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini as a ballet in 1939 and wanted to write something with which to follow it up. Second, he may have included material intended for a ballet titled The Scythians, begun in 1914-15 but abandoned before Rachmaninoff left Russia. While no manuscript for the ballet currently survives, this does not make his quoting the work inconceivable, given the vastness of Rachmaninoff’s memory. He could remember and play back accurately pieces he had heard years earlier, even those he had heard only once.

The work is remarkable for its use of the alto saxophone as a solo instrument for the only time in a Rachmaninoff composition. The composition includes several quotations from Rachmaninoff’s other works, and can be regarded as a summing-up of his entire career as a composer. The first dance ends with a quotation from his unfortunate First Symphony (1897). The ghostly second dance (called “dusk” in some sketches) symbolises the years from the turn of the century up to the Russian Revolution. The final dance is a kind of struggle between the Dies Irae theme, representing Death, and a quotation from his All-night Vigil (1915), representing Resurrection. The Resurrection theme proves victorious in the end (he wrote the word Hallelujah at this place in the score).

Arrangements

Concert

Rachmaninoff wrote an arrangement for two pianos concurrently with the orchestral version. There is also an arrangement for orchestral wind band.

Ballet

The name Symphonic Dances suggests that the composition can be danced to. Rachmaninoff corresponded with choreographer Mikhail Fokine about possibly creating a ballet from the Dances. He played the composition for Fokine on the piano; the choreographer responded enthusiastically. Fokine’s death in August 1942 put an end to any possible collaboration in this direction.

Salvatore Aiello choreographed the Symphonic Dances for the North Carolina Dance Theater in 1991. Peter Martins did so in 1994 for the New York City Ballet.

Organ

There exists an unpublished transcription of the entire piece by French composer/performer Jean Guillou, written for two organs.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory

Conductor – A.Levin

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Symphonic Dances Op. 45 sheet music

1. Non allegro

2. Andante con moto (Tempo di valse)

3. Lento assai – Allegro vivace – Lento assai. Come prima – Allegro vivace.

Suite No. 1 Op. 5 Pâques in G minor sheet music

Suite No. 1 Op. 5 Les Larmes in G minor sheet music

Suite No. 1 Op. 5 La nuit… l’amour in D major

Suite No. 1 Op. 5 Barcarolle in G minor sheet music

Slava Op. 11 sheet music

Romance Op. 11 sheet music

Valse Op.11 sheet music

Thème Russian Op. 11 sheet music

Scherzo Op. 11 sheet music

Barcarolle Op. 11 sheet music

The sonata was overshadowed by the huge success of his second piano concerto, which premiered on November 24, 1901. It was first played in Moscow.

Composition

1. Lento – Allegro moderato (G minor)
2. Allegro scherzando (C minor)
3. Andante (E flat major)
4. Allegro mosso (G major)

The work takes approximately 30 minutes to perform.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Knushevitsky: cello

Lev Oborin: piano

part 1/5 (I)

part 2/5 (I)

part 3/5 (II)

part 4/5 (III)

part 5/5 (IV)

Sonata Op. 19 for Piano and Cello in G minor

1. Allegro agitato
2. Non allegro
3. Allegro molto

A typical performance lasts approximately 25 minutes.

By Alexei Sultanov

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part 2/3

part 3/3

Piano Sonata Op. 36 No. 2 in B flat minor sheet music

It has three movements, and takes about 35 minutes to perform. The sonata is structured like a typical Classical sonata, with fast movements surrounding a slower, more tender second movement. The movements feature sprawling themes and ambitious climaxes within their own structure, all the while building towards a prodigious culmination. Although this first sonata is a substantial and comprehensive work, its successor, Piano Sonata No. 2 (Op. 36), written only 4 years later, became a much more enduring and regarded work.

The piece is structured as a typical sonata in the Classical period: the first movement is a long Allegro moderato (moderately quick), the second a Lento (very slow), and the third an Allegro molto (very fast).

1. Allegro moderato

The substantial first movement Allegro moderato presents most of the thematic material and motifs revisited in the later movements.

Juxtaposed in the intro is a motif revisited throughout the movement: a quiet, questioning fifth answered by a defiant authentic cadence, followed by a solemn chord progression. This densly thematic expression is taken to represent the turmoil of Faust’s mind.

1. Lento

Although the shortest in length and performance time, the second movement Lento provides technical difficulty in following long melodic lines, navigating multiple overlapping voices, and coherently performing the detailed climax, which includes a small cadenza.

1. Allegro molto

Ending the sonata is the furious third movement Allegro molto.

Rachmaninoff played early versions of the piece to Oskar von Riesemann (who later became his biographer), who did not like it. Konstantin Igumnov expressed interest upon first hearing it in Moscow, and following his suggestion Rachmaninoff cut about 110 bars.

The sonata had a mediocre evaluation after Igumnov’s premier in Moscow. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov had died several months previously, and the burden of heading Russian classical music had fallen on this all-Rachmaninoff programme of October 17, 1908. Although the concert, which also included Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme of Chopin (Op. 22, 1903), was “filled to overflowing”, one critic called the sonata dry and repetitive, however redeeming the interesting details and innovative structures were.

Today the sonata remains less well-known than Rachmaninoff’s second sonata, and is not as frequently performed or recorded. Champions of the work tend to be pianists renowned for their large repertoire. It has been recorded by Alexis Weissenberg, John Ogdon, Howard Shelley (as part of his supposedly complete Rachmaninoff recordings for Hyperion Records), and Livia Rev (likewise for Naxos Records). Leslie Howard also carries it in his repertoire.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By John Ogdon

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part 2/5 (I)

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part 4/5 (III)

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Piano Sonata Op. 28 No. 1 in D minor sheet music

The piece is a set of 24 variations on the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini’s Caprices for solo violin, which has inspired works by several composers.

• Introduction: Allegro vivace – Variation I (Precedente)
• Tema: L’istesso tempo
• Variation II: L’istesso tempo
• Variation III: L’istesso tempo
• Variation IV: Più vivo
• Variation V: Tempo precedente
• Variation VI: L’istesso tempo
• Variation VII: Meno mosso, a tempo moderato
• Variation VIII: Tempo I
• Variation IX: L’istesso tempo
• Variation X: L’istesso tempo
• Variation XI: Moderato
• Variation XII: Tempo di minuetto
• Variation XIII: Allegro
• Variation XIV: L’istesso tempo
• Variation XV: Più vivo scherzando
• Variation XVI: Allegretto
• Variation XVII: Allegretto
• Variation XVIII: Andante cantabile
• Variation XIX: A tempo vivace
• Variation XX: Un poco più vivo
• Variation XXI: Un poco più vivo
• Variation XXII: Un poco più vivo (Alla breve)
• Variation XXIII: L’istesso tempo
• Variation XXIV: A tempo un poco meno mosso

Although Rachmaninoff’s work is performed in one stretch without breaks, it can be divided into three sections, corresponding to the three movements of a concerto: up to variation 11 corresponds to the first movement, variations 12 to 18 are the equivalent of a slow movement, and the remaining variations make a finale.

After a brief introduction, the first variation is played before the theme. Paganini’s theme is stated on strings with the piano picking out salient notes, after the first variation. Rachmaninoff likely got the idea of having a variation before the theme from the finale of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony. Variations II to VI recombine elements of the theme. The pauses and rhetorical flourishes for the piano in variation VII herald a change of tempo and tone. The piano next gravely intones the Dies Irae, the “day of wrath” plainchant from the medieval Mass of the Dead, while the orchestra accompanies with a slower version of the opening motif of the Paganini theme. The piece is one of several by Rachmaninoff to quote the Dies Irae plainchant melody.

The slow eighteenth variation is by far the most well-known, and it is often included on classical music compilations without the rest of the work. It is based on an inversion of the melody of Paganini’s theme. In other words, the A minor Paganini theme is played “upside down” in D flat major. Rachmaninoff himself recognized the appeal of this variation, saying “This one, is for my agent.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Pletnev: piano

Claudio Abbado: conductor

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Arthur Rubinstein: piano

Alfred Wallenstein: conductor

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Ayako Uehara: piano

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part 2/3

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Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43 in A minor sheet music

Compared to its predecessors, the Fourth contains sharper thematic profiles along with a refinement of textures in keyboard and orchestra. These qualities do not lead to greater simplicity but to a different sort of complexity. It was also a continuation of Rachmaninoff’s long-range creative growth. The Third and the recomposed First Concertos were less heavily orchestrated than the Second. In keeping with its general character, the Fourth is lighter still yet more oblique.

The concerto is written in three movements:

1. Allegro vivace (G minor)
2. Largo (C major)
3. Allegro vivace (G major)

Rachmaninoff had already been making a more extensive use of short thematic motifs and strong rhythmic patterns in his Op. 32 Preludes in place of what was called the “unmentionable restlessness” that made his work, especially the concertos, a distressing experience for some musicians. This refinement of musical language, especially in orchestration, went back at least to The Bells and a more astringent tone was already noticeable in songs like “The Raising of Lazarus”, Op. 34 No. 6.

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Vladmir Ashkenazy: piano

Andre Previn: conductor

London Symphony Orchestra

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part 2/3 (II)

part 3/3 (III)

Nikolai Lugansky: piano

Ivan Shpiller: conductor

State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia

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Piano Concerto Op. 40 No.4 in G minor sheet music

Following the form of a standard concerto, the piece is in three movements:

1. Allegro ma non troppo (D minor)

The first movement revolves around a diatonic melody that soon develops into complex pianistic figuration. The second theme opens with quiet exchanges between the orchestra and the piano before fully diving into a slower theme in a major key. The first part of the first theme is restated before the movement is pulled into a loud development section which opens with toccata like quivers in the piano and reaches a loud chordal section. The whole development exhibits features similar to a canon, such as an eighth note passage in the piano in which the left hand and the right hand play overlapping figures. The movement reaches a number of ferocious climaxes, especially in the cadenza. The first theme in its full form reappears just before the coda. Rachmaninoff wrote two versions of this cadenza: the dramatic and powerful original, commonly notated as the ossia, and a second one with a lighter, toccata-like style. In his recording of the concerto, the composer used the second cadenza. The first cadenza leads into a quiet solo section including the flute, clarinet and horn accompanied by delicate arpeggios in the piano. The piano then plays the less violent second cadenza, leading to the restating of the first theme in its entirety and closing with a tutti, silent, rippling coda.

2. Intermezzo: Adagio (F sharp minor/D flat major)

The second movement is opened by the orchestra and it consists of a number of variations around a single lush, heavily romantic melody following one another without a rigid scheme. The melody soon transitions to a tonic major which is the second theme. After the first theme development and recapitulation of the second theme, the main melody from the first movement reappears, before the movement is “closed” by the orchestra in a manner similar to the introduction. Then the piano gets the last word in with a short “cadenza-esque” passage which transitions into the last movement without pause. Many melodic thoughts of this movement allude to Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto, third movement, noticeably the Russian-like, E-flat major melody.

3. Finale: Alla breve (D minor → D major)

The third movement is quick and vigorous and contains variations on many of the themes that are used in the first movement, which unites the whole concerto cyclically. However, after the first and second themes it diverges from the regular sonata-allegro form. There is no conventional development; that segment is replaced by a lengthy digression using the major key of the third movement’s first theme, which then leads to the two themes from the first movement. After the digression, the movement recapitulation returns to the original themes, building up to a toccata climax somewhat similar but lighter than the first movement ossia cadenza. The last movement is concluded with a triumphant and passionate second theme melody in D major. The piece ends with the same four-note rhythm – claimed by some to be the composer’s musical signature[citation needed] – as the composer’s second concerto.

The third movement follows the second without pause.

Rachmaninoff authorized several cuts in the score, to be made at the performer’s discretion. These cuts, particularly in the second and third movements, were commonly taken in performance and recordings during the initial decades following the Concerto’s publication. More recently, it has become commonplace to perform the concerto without cuts. A typical performance of the complete concerto lasts about forty minutes.

Written in the peaceful setting of his family’s country estate, Ivanovka, Rachmaninoff completed the concerto on September 23, 1909. Contemporary with this work are his First Piano Sonata and his tone poem The Isle of the Dead.

The concerto is respected, even feared,[citation needed] by most pianists. Józef Hofmann, the pianist to whom the work is dedicated, never publicly performed it, saying that it “wasn’t for” him. And Gary Graffman lamented he had not learned this concerto as a student, when he was “still too young to know fear”.

Due to time constraints, Rachmaninoff could not practice the piece while in Russia. Instead, he practiced it on a silent keyboard that he took with him on the ship to the US.

The concerto was first performed on November 28, 1909 by Rachmaninoff himself with the now-defunct New York Symphony Society with Walter Damrosch conducting, at the New Theater (later rechristened the Century Theater). It received a second performance under Gustav Mahler several weeks later, an ‘experience Rachmaninoff treasured’. The manuscript was first published in 1910 by Gutheil. The first performance in England was given by G T Ball (later Sir George Thalben-Ball) at the Royal College of Music in London.

The concerto is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, piano and strings.

The first recording of the concerto was made by Vladimir Horowitz accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates for the HMV label in 1930. This has been listed by English critic and writer Norman Lebrecht as one of the 100 greatest recordings ever made. It has been reported that after Horowitz performed it for Rachmaninoff in the Steinway & Sons basement in 1928 (with the composer performing the orchestral part on a second piano), Rachmaninoff was so impressed that he never played the work in public again. However, he recorded the work with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1939.

According to some critics, the most technically astounding Rach 3 ever registered is a live performance by Vladimir Horowitz accompanied by the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra under Sir John Barbirolli, available on an off-the-air recording made in 1941.

Another noteworthy recording is Van Cliburn’s performance in Carnegie Hall on May 19, 1958, in celebration of his victory in the First International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow a month earlier. The account, featuring Kiril Kondrashin and the Symphony of the Air is a probing, ruminative reading that presents the work in a different light than that of the blistering, and fast-paced, accounts often heard.

One of the most famous recordings of the piece, known for its speed, is that of Martha Argerich performing live with the Deklasikal.com › Edit Post — WordPressutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

Another highly renowned performance of this work is that of the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy, with Bernard Haitink conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martha Argerich: piano

Riccardo Chailly: conductor

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

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part 2/5 (I)

part 3/5 (II)

part 4/5 (III)

part 5/5 (III)

Grigory Sokolov: piano

: conductor

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part 2/5 (I)

part 3/5 (II)

part 4/5 (III)

part 5/5 (III)

Yefim Bronfman: piano

Valery Gergiev: conductor

Vienna Philharmonic

part 1/4 (I)

part 2/4 (I)

part 3/4 (II)

part 4/4 (III)

Piano Concerto Op. 30 No. 3 in D minor sheet music

This piece is one of his most enduringly popular pieces, and established his fame as a concerto composer.

At its 1897 premiere, Rachmaninoff’s first symphony, though now considered a significant achievement, was derided by critics. Compounded by problems in his personal life, Rachmaninoff fell into a depression that lasted for several years. His second piano concerto confirmed his recovery from clinical depression and writer’s block. The concerto was dedicated to Nikolai Dahl, a physician who had done much to restore Rachmaninoff’s self-confidence.

The opening movement begins with a series of bell-like tollings on the piano that build tension, eventually climaxing in the introduction of the main theme. In this first section, the orchestra carries the Russian-character melody while the piano makes an accompaniment made of arpeggios riddled with half steps. After the statement of the long first theme, a quicker transition follows until the more lyrical second theme, in E flat major, is presented.

The agitated and unstable development borrows motives from both themes changing keys very often and giving the melody to different instruments while a new musical idea is slowly formed. The music builds in a huge climax as if the work was going to repeat the first bars of the work, but the recapitulation is going to be quite different.

While the orchestra restates the first theme, the piano, that in the other occasion had an accompaniment role, now plays the march-like theme that had been halfly presented in the development, thus making a considerable readjustment in the exposition, as the main theme, played by the orchestra has become an accompaniment. This is followed by a piano solo, which leads into a descending chromatic passage and concluding with an eery french horn solo. From here the last minutes of the movement are placid until drawn into the agitated coda, and the piece ends in C minor fortissimo.

The second movement opens with a series of slow chords in the strings which modulate from the C minor of the previous movement to the E major of this movement. The piano enters, playing a simple arpeggiated figure. A flute then introduces the main theme. The motif is passed between the piano and other soloists before the music accelerates to a short climax centered on the piano. The original theme is repeated, and the music appears to die away, finishing with just the soloist in E major.

The last movement opens with a short orchestral introduction that modulates from E (the key of the previous movement) to C, before a piano solo leads to the statement of the agitated first theme. After the original fast tempo and musical drama ends, a lyrical theme is introduced by the oboe and violas. This second theme maintains the motif of the first movement’s second theme. After a long period of development tension is built up considerably. Near the end, Rachmaninoff restates the second theme in loud, fortissimo orchestration. After this, a fast, ecstatic coda draws the piece to a close, ending in C major.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evgeny Kissin: piano

Sir Andrew Davis: conductor

BBCSO

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part 2/2 (I)

part 1/2 (II)

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part 1/2 (III)

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Arcadi Volodos: piano

Riccardo Chailly: conductor

Royal Concertgebow Orchestra

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Boris Berezovsky: piano

Dmitry Liss: conductor

Ural Philarmonic Orchestra

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part 3/3

Piano Concerto Op. 18 No. 2 in C minor sheet music

This was actually Rachmaninoff’s second attempt at a piano concerto. In 1889 be had begun but abandoned a concerto in C minor (the same key, incidentally, in which he would later write his Second Piano Concerto). He wrote Natalya Skalon on 26 March 1891, “I am now composing a piano concerto. Two movements are already written; the last movement is not written, but is composed; I shall probably finish the whole concerto by the summer, and then in the summer orchestrate it” He finished composing and scoring the piece on July 6 and was satisfied with what he had written. The first movement was premiered on 17 March 1892 at the Moscow Conservatoire, with the composer as soloist and Vasily Safonov conducting. This may have been the only time the composer played the concerto in its original form, although Siloti, to whom it is dedicated, programmed it to play himself on several occasions.

Composition students were usually advised to base their efforts on a specific model for their first exercises in new forms. In Rachmaninoff’s case this was the Grieg Piano Concerto, which was a favorite work of his and one which he had been familiar from Siloti practicing it at the Rachmaninoff household during the spring and summer of 1890 for future concerts. Rachmaninoff adapted the entire musical structure of the outer movements to the Grieg concerto, literally building his music into it. With all his other concertos, Rachmaninoff would prove more enterprising.

From the earliest part of this career, Rachmaninoff used his own skills as a performer to explore the expressive possibilities of his instrument. Even in his earliest works, which would include this concerto in its original form, he revealed a sure grasp of idiomatic keyboard writing and a superb gift for melody. However, the textures of these early works are usually opaque and chordal, lacking the variety he would later develop. His orchestration can often be colorless and heavy, the musical language on the whole often reminiscent of other Russian composers, especially Tchaikovsky. Rachmaninoff did not actually start developing an individual compositional voice until, ironically, the First Symphony.

Regardless of the concerto’s weaknesses in its lack of musical invention and its overly simple dramatic contrasts, the work demonstrates a potential for larger and more complex undertakings-something which could be considered remarkable for a 17- or 18-year-old composer. The harmony may be conservative and the development of the first movement overly reliant on repetitions that do not have much structural point. Nevertheless, he would do better soon in other works and even does so here when he does not lean so heavily on other composers as compositional models.

The public was already familiar with the Second and Third Concertos before Rachmaninoff revised the First in 1917. The First is very different work than those works. Rachmaninoff’s melodies are still there, if less memorably than in the other two concertos, but combined here with a youthful vivacity and impetuosity. Also, the differences between the 1890-1891 original and the 1917 revision reveal a tremendous amount about the composer’s development in the intervening years. There is a considerable thinning of texture in the orchestral and piano parts and much material that made the original version diffuse and episodic is removed.

The work is in three movements:

* Vivace (F sharp minor)

This contrast with the later works can be heard from the opening bars, where a brass fanfare precedes a flourish a double octaves and chords on the piano-a musical gesture similar to the Schumann and Grieg piano concertos. This flourish occurs later in the movement, as well, an important factor in the symmetry of the movement. The main theme (like the other themes in this work common to both versions) is short by Rachmaninoff’s standards but already shows the sequential devices and arch-like design inherent in his later works.

* Andante cantabile (D major)

This reflective nocturne is only 74 bars long. The texture is less cumbersome in the revised version; the harmonies remain the same but are enlivened by occasional chromatic notes.

* Allegro scherzando (F sharp minor → F sharp major) [1917 version: Allegro vivace]

Rachmaninoff replaced an initially drab opening with a fortissimo passage alternating between time signatures of 9/8 and 12/8. A maestoso reemergence of the concerto’s main theme was eliminated. In the original version he had attempted to use this theme in an upward sequential treatment similar to what he would do later in the Second and Third Concertos. The problem here was that the theme did not lend itself so easily to this treatment, thus sounding contrived. It also came too late in the movement to have the right expansive effort prevalent in the other concertos.

Of all the revisions Rachmaninoff made to various works, this one was perhaps the most successful. Using an acquired knowledge of harmony, orchestration, piano technique and musical form, he transformed an early, immature composition into a concise, spirited work. Nevertheless, he was perturbed that the revised work did not become popular with the public. He said to Albert Swan, “I have rewritten my First Concerto; it is really good now. All the youthful freshness is there, and yet it plays itself so much more easily. And nobody pays any attention. When I tell them in America that I will play the First Concerto, they do not protest, but I can see by their faces that they would prefer the Second or Third.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Leif Ove Andsnes

Part 1/3

By Leif Ove Andsnes

Part 2/3

By Leif Ove Andsnes

Part 3/3

piano:Vladimir Ashkenazy

condutcor:Andre Previn

orchestra:London Symphony Orchestra

Part 1/4 Tempo 1

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Part 2/4 Tempo 2

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Part 3/4 Tempo 2

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Part 4/4 Tempo 3

By Lillya Zilberstein

Part 1/4

By Lillya Zilberstein

Part 2/4

By Lillya Zilberstein

Part 3/4

By Lillya Zilberstein

Part 4/4

By Sviatoslav Richter

Part 1/4

By Sviatoslav Richter

Part 2/4

By Sviatoslav Richter

Part 3/4

By Sviatoslav Richter

Part 4/4

Piano Concerto Op. 1 No. 1 in F sharp minor sheet music

By Alexei Sultanov

Serenade op. 3 in B flat minor sheet music

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Sergei Rachmaninov

Polichinelle op. 3 in F sharp minor sheet music

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Jorge Bolet

Melody Op. 3 in E major sheet music

Its first performance was by the composer on 8/20 October 1892[2], at a festival called the Moscow Electrical Exhibition, which Rachmaninoff considered his debut as a pianist. After this première, a review singled the Prelude out of the entire concert, noting that it had “aroused enthusiasm”. From this point on, its popularity would grow.

This work was one of the first Rachmaninoff composed as a “Free Artist”, after he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory on May 29, 1892. He performed this new work for the first time, at one of the concerts of the Moscow Electrical Exhibition on 8/20 October 1892. it was printed the following year as the second of five Morceaux de Fantaisie (Op. 3), all dedicated to Anton Arensky, his harmony teacher at the Conservatory. Because at the time Russia was not party to the 1886 Berne Convention, Russian publishers did not pay royalties, so the only financial return he ever received for this piece was a 40 ruble ($1.64, £0.80) publishing fee.

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.[3]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. Amazingly, the composer was but 19 years of age at the time he wrote this piece. The work haunted him until his death despite the enormous quantity of great works he composed after this small prelude! Some say Rachmaninoff came to hate the work. Most however agree he would simply shrug in resignation and play it.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Emil Gilels

By Josef Hofmann

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 3 in C sharp minor sheet music

By Andrei Gavrilov

By Sergei Rachmaninov

Elegy Op. 3 in E flat minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Alexis Weissenberg

Prelude Op. 32 No. 13 in D flat major sheet music

By Vadim Chaimovich

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Valentina Lisitsa

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Sofronitsky

Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor sheet music

By Lillya Zilberstein

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 11 in B major sheet music

By Lillya Zilberstein

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 10 in B minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 9 in A major sheet music

By Lillya Zilberstein

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 8 in A minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 7 in F major sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 6 in F minor sheet music

By Vadim Chaimovich

By Valentina Lisitsa

By Grigory Sokolov

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major sheet music

By Lillya Zilberstein

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 4 in E minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 3 in E major sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 2 in B flat minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 32 No. 1 in C major sheet music

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Grigory Sokolov

By Evgeny Kissin

Prelude Op. 23 No. 10 in G flat major sheet music

By Grigory Sokolov

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 23 No. 9 in E flat minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Grigory Sokolov

Prelude Op. 23 No. 8 in A flat major sheet music

By Vadim Chaimovich

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Grigory Sokolov

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 23 No. 7 in C minor sheet music

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Van Cliburn

By Vladimir Sofronitsky

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Grigory Sokolov

Prelude Op. 23 No. 6 in E flat major sheet music

The prelude’s form is similar to that of a traditional three-part rondo, consisting of an opening “A” section with punctuated sixteenth-note chords (marked Alla marcia), a more lyrical and melancholy “B” section with arpeggiated triplets in the left hand (marked Poco meno mosso), a transition into the original tempo, and a recapitulation of the initial march. Despite the bombast of the main march theme, the piece ends with a short arpeggiated run to a high G, marked pianissimo.

Although the g minor prelude is not considered one of the most technically challenging preludes, the speed of the march section and its thick repeated chords require both strong wrists and dynamic control, while the middle section requires a controlled legato in both hands to ensure that the melody is properly projected.
The composer recorded this piece, but because of the piece’s musical “flexibility”, it can be found performed in a variety of different styles, much contrary to the composer’s recordings.

There is a famous video in which Emil Gilels plays this Prelude at a front in World War II, in support for the Soviet military forces fighting the war. The narrator says (in Russian): “Gilels is playing at the front, to remind us what the war is worth fighting for: Immortal music!”

This Prelude is one of the most performed and recorded pieces of the set, displaying the virtuosity and musical genius of Rachmaninoff.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Evgeny Kissin

By Andrei Gavrilov

By Emil Gilels

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Sergei Rachmaninov

Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor sheet music

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Grigory Sokolov

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 23 No. 4 in D major sheet music

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Grigory Sokolov

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 23 No. 3 in D minor sheet music

By Emil Gilels

By Valentina Igoshina

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Grigory Sokolov

Prelude Op. 23 No. 2 in B flat major sheet music

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Grigory Sokolov

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Prelude Op. 23 No. 1 in F sharp minor sheet music

The final piece or movement of a cycle that is virtuosic and brilliant, employing the entire range of dynamics and sonorities available to the piano, bringing a set of pieces to a glorious conclusion.
-Robin Hancock, Boston University, 1992

This “stormy, agitated” work contains a “vehemently triple-dotted main theme and only some brief mid-section hazy sunshine [that lightens] the storm before fortississimo thunders return and finally dominate.” Despite the dark imagery presented to describe the piece, the work is in C major, and the end result is more light-hearted than dark, but not as triumphal as the Maestoso would make it sound.

Like the second and fourth pieces, number six is written in the form of an étude, with a repetitive but technically challenging chordal melody that is doubled in both hands. In all, the work has three distinct elements played simultaneously: the main melody, the continuous thirty-second note broken chord figures, and a descending eighth note motif. Dynamics play a large part in this piece: the fortissimo marked at the beginning is maintained all throughout the first section, with only brief respites to mezzo forte. The middle section is wholly softer, and contains two areas with significant mounting tension, creating the aforementioned “apotheosis effect” with dramatic “false starts.”[8] Here, Rachmaninoff manipulates the theme contrapuntally to develop a canonic effect. This “triple counterpoint. . . is titanic both in size and impact, and in potential for disaster,” referring to the tension, waiting for the final climax, in this “continuing explosion.” Immediately before the coda, the thick texture and canon suddenly disappear and the piece becomes piano. Upon entering the coda, the work resumes the forte theme and amalgamates to a majestic ending played fortississimo.

Maestoso is one of the most difficult pieces in the set. Stamina and strength are required to sustain a full resonant sound, while the continuous thirty-second figure can be tiring for the pianist. Consistent tempo is a problem for this piece, due to the melody being interspersed with two other elements. Additionally, the dynamics, mostly “loud” and “very loud,” indicate that an accurate vision of relative volume is necessary. Maintaining this accuracy while managing every other element of the piece and successfully presenting a musically solid performance continues to be the ultimate challenge of all.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Vadim Chaimovich

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Ivo Pogorelić

Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 6 in C major sheet music

Lacking any prodigious figures or difficult runs, the piece displays Rachmaninoff’s capability for musical lyricism. Although the piece seems simple, the mood must be sustained by playing simultaneously restrained but dynamic triplet figures in the left hand. The melody, a chordal texture with frequent suspended tones, creates a difficult task in voicing, and placing the correct emphasis on the correct notes. Its relatively short melody lines are a direct contrast to Rachmaninoff’s characteristically long lines, giving a shorter time to bring out the phrases.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Vadim Chaimovich

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Horowitz

Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 5 D flat major sheet music

Presto is in ternary form with a coda. The piece begins with a fortissimo introduction with a thick texture in the left hand consisting of chromatic sextuplets. The melody is a “rising quasi-military” idea, interspersed between replications of the left hand figure, the mostly two-note melody being a strong unifying element. The middle section is a brief period of pianississimo falling figures in the right hand and rising scales in the left. The third section is marked Più vivo (more life) and is played even faster than the intro, 112 quarter notes per minute. At this point the piece develops a very thick texture, with the original left hand figure played in both hands in varying registers. The technique of rapidly change the octave in which a melody is played, sometimes called “registral displacement”, is used to present the figure in a more dramatic form that increases the intensity of the ending. The ending, a coda in Prestissimo (very quick), 116 quarter notes per minute, is a final, sweeping reiteration of the theme that closes in a heavy E minor chord, which revisits Rachmaninoff’s preoccupation with bell sounds, prominent in his Piano Concerto No. 2 and Prelude in C-sharp minor (Op. 3, No. 2).

The piece is a major exercise in endurance and accuracy: the introduction opens in a left hand figure requiring span of a tenth interval. Additionally, octave intervals invariably appear before fast sextuplet runs, making quick wrists and arm action necessary. The double melodies Rachmaninoff uses in this work exists purposely to “keep both hands occupied,” obscuring the melody and making it difficult for the right hand to project. This is the only piece in the set with indicated pedal markings.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Lazar Berman

By Vadim Chaimovich

Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 4 E minor sheet music

Comprising only 55 measures, this piece is one of the shortest but has one of the longer playing times of about seven minutes. The piece is structured as a three-part form. The theme of the first section is played entirely in minor thirds, accompanied by a left hand figure of open fifths and octaves. The middle section has the melody in minor sixths, alongside a staccato octave bass. The lament of the opening theme transforms into an explicit funeral march as the left-hand octaves become regular.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Andrei Gavrilov

By Anna Shelest

By Vadim Chaimovich

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Lazar Berman

Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 3 in B minor sheet music

Rachmaninoff revised this piece in March 1940, changing the melody but leaving the constant sextuplets, proving that the rushing figures are not simple bravura or flair.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Eduard Lenner

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Sofronitsky

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Ivo Pogorelić

Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 2 E flat minor sheet music

Andantino is the longest in the set by playing time (about 8:30). It is described as a “generic-hybrid,” combining elements of the nocturne and theme and variation genres. The melody is chromatic, syncopated, and long, all idiosyncratic elements Rachmaninoff often includes in his works. Because of this, the Andantino is sometimes called an extension of his Nocturne in A minor of the Morceaux de Salon set (Op. 10, No. 1, 1894). However, Andantino stands on its own with difficulties, such as the sections with multiple phrases in a single hand.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Vyacheslav Gryaznov

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Lazar Berman

By Ivo Pogorelić

Part 2/1

By Ivo Pogorelić

Part 2/2

Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 1 in B flat minor sheet music

Nocturne No. 3 in C minor sheet music

Nocturne No. 2 in F major sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By John Ogdon

Nocturne No. 1 in F sharp minor sheet music

By Pavel Raikerus

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 9 in D major sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Alexander Gavrylyuk

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 8 in D minor sheet music

By Vladimir Kuznetsov Venue

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 7 in C minor sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Valentina Lisitsa

By Murray Perahia

By Alexander Gavrylyuk

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Sergei Rachmaninov

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 6 in A minor sheet music

By Alexander Gavrylyuk

By Alexei Sultanov

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 5 in E-flat minor sheet music

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Sofronitsky

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 4 in B minor sheet music

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 3 in F sharp minor sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Alexei Nasedkin

By Eduardo Fernandez

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 2 in A minor sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Alexander Gavrylyuk

By Evgeny Kissin

By Sara Daneshpour

By Evgeny Kissin

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 1 in C minor sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Arcadi Volodos

By Hélène Grimaud

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 8 in C sharp minor sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 7 G minor sheet music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

By Abdel Rahman El Bacha

By Nikolai Lugansky

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 6 E flat major sheet music

By Sviatoslav Richter

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 5 E flat minor sheet music

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 4 D minor sheet music

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 3 in C minor sheet music

By Hélène Grimaud

By Vladimir Ashkenazy

By Vladimir Horowitz

By Nikolai Lugansky

Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 2 C major sheet music