zygis on Apr 11th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 32 No. 12 in G sharp minor
By Nikolai Lugansky
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
zygis on Apr 10th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 23 No. 7 in C minor
By Nikolai Lugansky
By Vadim Chaimovich
By Sviatoslav Richter
By Grigory Sokolov
By Vladimir Ashkenazy
Prelude Op. 23 No. 7 in C minor sheet music
zygis on Apr 9th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 5 D flat major
Following the torrential gauntlets of number four is the fifth piece, likened in a Ph.D thesis to a passage in the Bible (1 Kings 19:12, read text), which says, “And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” This is in direct reference to the position of the work between two pieces with “incredible pyrotechnics,” as the figurative calm before and after the storm. The piece is similar to the form of a barcarolle, a folk song with a rhythmic tuplet accompaniment. Playing it takes approximately five minutes, and it is 53 measures long, the shortest in terms of measures. It is an adagio sostenuto (sustained at ease) at 54 quarter notes per minute, with a simple melody presented in ternary form.
zygis on Apr 9th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 4 E minor
The fourth piece is similar to the second in the quality of its performance. The fourth piece reveals resemblance to Chopin’s Revolutionary étude in the taxing left hand figure place throughout. Further it looks, sounds, and feels as if it were an improvisation on Chopin’s Prelude in G major (Op. 28, No. 3). The piece is 67 measures long, with a duration of about three minutes, and has the fastest tempo of the set, Presto (quick) at 104 quarter notes per minute, and is the shortest work in terms of playing time.
zygis on Apr 8th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 3 in B minor
Again, the next piece drastically differs from the previous: the continual gauntlets of number two is relieved by the third piece in the set, an “introspective rêverie [daydream].” Drawing on the previous illustration of a “generic hybrid,” this piece is described as a mixture between the song without words and funeral march genres, to create what is called the “most Russian” piece of the set, containing both sonorous bass and a solid melody, characteristics of Russian music.
zygis on Feb 13th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Nocturne in B major Op. 9 No. 3
Nocturne in B major Op. 9 No. 3 is in the ternary form A-B-A .the first section (Allegretto).The second contrasting section(Agitato)is a very dramatic one with a combined melody & counter-melody in the right hand and triplets in the left hand throughout this section which needs a great amount of virtuosity. The piece is full of coloratura ornaments, and ends with a wide chord in the left hand accompanied with (senza tempo) right hand triplets in a high octave to lead to a legatissimo smorzando adagio.
zygis on Feb 13th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Nocturne in B-flat minor Op. 9 No. 1
Nocturne in B-flat minor Op. 9 No. 1 has a rhythmic freedom that came to characterise Chopin’s later work. The left hand has an unbroken sequence of quavers in simple arpeggios throughout the entire piece, while the right hand moves with freedom in patterns of eleven, twenty, and twenty-two notes. The opening section moves into a contrasting middle section, which flows back to the opening material in a transitional passage where the melody floats above seventeen consecutive bars of D-flat major chords. The reprise of the first section grows out of this and the nocturne concludes peacefully.
