Description
One of the three preludes — with Nos. 1 and 5 — written earlier, in 1901, and premiered by the composer himself in Moscow in February 1903. Placed directly after the sunken opening piece, it throws the collection's contour wide open.
In B-flat major, marked Maestoso. The left hand hammers out a torrent of figuration sweeping up and down a wide range without pause, while the right drives the melody in chords above it. The meter switches back and forth through the piece, producing an uneven breath, as though the current keeps surging and drawing back.
An advanced prelude that loads the left hand extraordinarily. Since the figuration is a chain of broken chords, grasping it as chord shapes cuts the work the fingers have to do. Sound the right-hand chords with arm weight rather than striking them with the fingers. Whether the balance — left hand held back, right hand forward — survives to the end is what decides this piece.
A collection of preludes not tied to a specific set, featuring short, evocative works by composers from Bach to more modern voices.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer and pianist who represents the late Romantic era, later emigrating to Europe and the United States after the Russian Revolution. His music is marked by lush melody, dense harmony, and sonorities evoking Russian church bells, with his Piano Concerto No. 2 among his best-known works. His many Preludes are also cherished masterworks. This site includes nine of the Preludes from Op. 23 along with the C-sharp minor Prelude, Op. 3 No. 2, that made his name.
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