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 11th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Vadim Chaimovich
By Valentina Lisitsa
By Grigory Sokolov
By Vladimir Ashkenazy
Prelude Op. 32 No. 5 in G major sheet music
zygis on Apr 10th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 23 No. 5 in G minor
The Prelude in G minor, Op. 23 No. 5 is a composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff completed 1901. It was included in his Opus 23 set of ten preludes despite having been written two years earlier than the other nine. It is an epitome of Rachmaninoff’s Russian nationalism, rife with full chords and evocative melodies.The Prelude in G minor, Op. 23 No. 5 is a composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff completed 1901. It was included in his Opus 23 set of ten preludes despite having been written two years earlier than the other nine. It is an epitome of Rachmaninoff’s Russian nationalism, rife with full chords and evocative melodies.
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 8th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux Op. 16 No. 2 E flat minor
The second piece, referred to as a “glittering showpiece”, is positioned in contrast to the lyrical and “atmospheric” melody of the first piece. The piece is in the quick tempo allegretto (quickly), at 92 quarter notes per minute. It is 131 measures long, the most of all six pieces, but the second shortest in terms of playing time, usually no longer than three and a half minutes (the shortest is number four). This piece represents a typical nineteenth-century étude, similar in style to Frédéric Chopin’s Études (Opp. 10, 12), with a melody interspersed between rapid sextuplet figures. It is in strict ternary form with a coda: identical beginning and ending sections beginning on measures 1 and 85, and a contrasting middle section starting on measure 45. The second section radically changes dynamics, constantly changing from piano to fortissimo and even sforzando. It is, throughout, a relentless torrent of descending half steps and a cascading left hand figure reminiscent of Chopin’s Revolutionary Étude (Op. 10, No. 12, 1831). Ending the piece is a slow coda in Adagio (at ease) which closes with a perfect authentic cadence in E-flat major.
zygis on Apr 7th, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 9 in D major
By Alexander Gavrylyuk
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
zygis on Apr 2nd, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Etude – tableaux Op. 39 No. 5 in E-flat minor
By Evgeny Kissin
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
zygis on Mar 31st, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 5 in E flat minor
By Abdel Rahman El Bacha
By Sviatoslav Richter
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Vladimir Ashkenazy
By Nikolai Lugansky
Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 5 E flat minor sheet music
zygis on Mar 31st, 2009Sergei Rachmaninov Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 2 in C major
By Abdel Rahman El Bacha
By Hélène Grimaud
By Vladimir Ashkenazy
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Nikolai Lugansky
Etude – tableaux Op. 33 No. 2 C major sheet music
zygis on Mar 10th, 2009Frédric Chopin Mazurka Op. 59 No. 3 in F sharp minor
By Arthur Rubinstein
By Vladimir Horowitz
Mazurka Op. 59 No. 3 in F sharp minor sheet music
zygis on Mar 9th, 2009Frédric Chopin Mazurka Op. 33 No. 2 in D major
By Colleen Lee
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Arthur Rubinstein
Mazurka Op. 33 No. 2 in D major sheet music
zygis on Mar 9th, 2009Frédric Chopin Mazurka Op. 30 No. 4 in C sharp minor
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Arthur Rubinstein
Mazurka Op. 30 No. 4 in C sharp minor sheet music
zygis on Mar 9th, 2009Frédric Chopin Mazurka Op. 30 No. 3 D flat major
By Arthur Rubinstein
By Vladimir Horowitz
Mazurka Op. 30 No. 3 D flat major sheet music
zygis on Mar 9th, 2009Frédric Chopin Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4 in A minor
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Michael Glenn Williams
By Arthur Rubinstein
Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4 in A minor sheet music
zygis on Mar 9th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Mazurka Op. 7 No. 3 in F minor
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Vadim Chaimovich
By Arthur Rubinstein
Mazurka Op. 7 No. 3 in F minor sheet music
zygis on Feb 25th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Sonata in B flat minor Op. 35 No. 2
Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35 (”Funeral March”) mainly in 1839 at Nohant near Chateauroux in France, although the funeral march third movement had been composed as early as 1837.
zygis on Feb 23rd, 2009Frédéric Chopin Polonaise Op. 44 F sharp minor
The Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44 is a solo piano composition by Frédéric Chopin composed in 1841. The piece is less popular than some of Chopin’s other polonaises such as the Military Polonaise and the Heroic Polonaise.
The polonaise is in ternary form, with a central Mazurka section in A major.
zygis on Feb 17th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Prélude Op. 28 No. 15 D flat major
Prelude No. 15 in D-flat, nicknamed the “Raindrop” Prelude, is the longest of the twenty-four. The main melody is repeated three times; it is melancholy, despite its major key. The middle section is much darker; the melody moves to the bass and the right hand mostly repeats G sharp (enharmonically equivalent to the repeated A flat of the opening section), first alone and then in octaves. The mood becomes more agitated with the melody’s return to the right hand and an increase in volume, with many large chords. After this the melody and texture of the first section return briefly, leading to a restful ending.
zygis on Feb 15th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 in E minor
By Vladimir Horowitz
By Daniel Beliavsky
Nocturne Op. 72 in E minor sheet music
zygis on Feb 13th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Nocturne in F minor Op. 55 No. 1
By Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz
Nocturne in F minor Op. 55 No. 1 sheet music
zygis on Feb 13th, 2009Frédéric Chopin Nocturne in F sharp minor Op. 48 No. 2
By Gülsin Onay
By Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz
Nocturne in F sharp minor Op. 48 No. 2 sheet music
