Rachmaninoff Preludes

Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote many preludes for piano solo. His most important works in this genre are the twenty-four preludes that cover all twenty-four major and minor keys. However, these were written and published at different times, not as a unified set. Of all the composers who wrote sets of twenty-four pieces in all the keys, Rachmaninoff seems to be the only one who did not originally set out with such a goal in mind. He also wrote three other individual preludes.

Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C Sharp Minor (Russian: Прелюдия), Opus 3, Number 2, is one of his most famous compositions. It is a ternary (ABA) prelude, sixty-two measures long, and part of a set of five pieces entitled Morceaux de Fantaisie. The piece is often used as an encore; and it has been used in popular music, television programs, and movies such as the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races (1937).

Completed in 1901, Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor (Opus 23, Number 5) was premiered by Sergei Rachmaninoff himself in Moscow on 10 February 1903. The piece is structured in ternary form: an opening section with punctuated sixteenth-note chords (marked Alla marcia), a more lyrical and melancholy middle section with sweeping arpeggios in the left hand (marked Poco meno mosso), and a closing section with a transition into the original tempo and a recapitulation of the initial march.

A Russian piano virtuoso, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943) was one of the last great composers of the Romantic era of music. His compositions are renowned for their lyricism, expressive breadth, structural ingenuity, and a tonal palette of rich distinctive colors.



Tutorials



Part 1   Part 2   Part 3    

Part 1 with score    Part 2&3  with score     

Complete (double sped with Windows Movie Maker, audio distorted up 1 octave)