Background

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in 1873, in Russia. At the age of 16, he composed his first published piece, and would ultimately finish well over 45 opuses, or collections of pieces (Op. 16 and Op. 23 are relevant to this project), as well as dozens of individual compositions and four piano concertos. Rachmaninoff was one of the last great Romantic Era composers, making his compositions some of the final pieces of "classical" music to be published, before the rise of the modernist styles.

I have played piano for around 12 years, and I first played a Rachmaninoff around 2 years ago, at the end of my Sophomore year. Ever since then, I have been focused on improving so as to be able to play Rachmaninoff's most complex and advanced works.

In this project, I will detail the last nine months of work I have done on some of my favorite Rachmaninoff pieces:

Opus 16, No. 3 (Moment Musicaux No. 3)

Opus 16, No. 4 (Moment Musicaux No. 4)

Opus 23, No. 5 (Prelude in G Minor)

For each of three pieces I worked on, the following information will be provided:

Learning Process

In the Learning Process section, I will explain how I learned each song, and the methods employed to improve and practice

No.4Section.MOV

Challenges

In the Challenges section, parts of pieces, as well as general subjects, which caused issues, will be explained, as well as the solutions I found

Outcome

Finally, in the Completion section, the final results will be presented: Original video recordings of Rachmaninoff's Moments Musicaux No. 3 and No. 4

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