Description
Written in 1903, this is the toccata-like prelude in the second half of Op. 23. Rachmaninoff often programmed it himself, and its marks are a brilliant sonority and motion that never stops.
In A-flat major, marked Allegro vivace. The right hand runs sixteenth-note figuration without a break, the outline of the melody woven inside it. The meter changes repeatedly through the piece, stepping deliberately outside any regular scansion, and toward the end the range opens out to use the keyboard from edge to edge before the close.
An advanced prelude. It lasts around two minutes, but its density is among the highest in the set. Because the melody is buried inside the right-hand figuration, it helps to extract and play the melody notes alone first, deciding which pitches to lift before assembling the whole. And be able to count the changes of meter reliably before raising the speed.
A collection of preludes not tied to a specific set, featuring short, evocative works by composers from Bach to more modern voices.
Browse all songs in Preludes →Sheet Music
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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