Rachmaninoff – Piano Preludes

Op. 3  no. 2 In C Sharp Minor

Yes, Rachmaninoff did have big bands, and you know what that means. More importantly, this is arguably the most famous of all his piano preludes.

Some will say that C# minor is the darkest of all keys and really brings out the richest textures of the piano. Bollocks, in my opinion. Being a piano player, I can understand why this was written in C# minor. It is nothing more than for convenience and practicability in the lower registers. If it had been in, for example, A Minor, the notes would be very difficult to find.

There’s nothing really special about the melody or rhythm of this piece, all pretty straight forward. The beautiful of it really lies in the chordal sequence. The progression C#m, A, G#7, C#m is what really makes up this piece, particularly the interval of the minor 6th between C# and A. As you can see, nothing really fancy, all very diatonic. Some would even say cliche, but the very term ‘cliche’ implies that it had been done before and it probably has been done again in the past 80 years. That is not to say, however, that in the year it was written (somewhere in the early 20th century), it was considered to be cliche. There are other chords in this piece, but they are all really an extension of the core fundamental progression described above. The B# is a very important sound in the piece and what really gives the character of the piece as a whole. It simply states we are in the harmonic minor territory and everything will be all tragic and grandiose.

The way the piano is used is also worthy of mention. What would be considered a very muddy register on the piano is used very often in this piece. The low C#m chord really contributes to the sheer power and intensity to the vibe. I think would be have been interesting if the minor 3rd (E) was voiced in the bass instead of the tonic, much like that of Wagner’s music where he wanted to portray something dark and damp.

- Scott

RACHMANINOV – PIANO ETUDES 8 Etudes, Opus.33

GRAVE
Very dramatic and sinister. Heavy chords are played, in repeated semitone steps – E to E# back down to E. Very much like Star Wars. This then lengthens out in rhythm, leading us to chromatic descending runs. It goes back into the “Star Wars” theme, which through out the next minute is transformed into different pitches and sometimes into different variations in rhythm. The piece continues on like this, gradually getting thicker in texture (more chord members being doubled), until it reaches the last two bars, whereby the E – E# theme is repeated, gradually getting faster, until a final octave C chord is played.

MODERATO
This is very “Ave Maria”. Once again, rippling piano arpeggios are played lightly in the bass, whilst in the treble, quite simply, three Bb crochets are played martele. It’s beautiful and angelic, by far my favourite movement of this series. It is broken up by thick chords in the bass, then leading into a faster version of the original motif- from semi quavers to demi-semi quavers. The piece is really broken up though, when a broken chord of E# is played in the bass, and from there on, the piece becomes a contest between dissonant and consonant. It has a very uncharacteristic ending – more like the ending to the other movements.

ALLEGRO CON FUOCCO

A fast opening, very much, in my opinion, a continuation from the previous movement. It then becomes grand when the piano plays 3, 6,1,3, 6,7 chords, gradually slower until we reach the leading note, building suspense. It then seems to go into a exactly the same theme of the previous 7 bars, only it has been transposed up a third

NON ALLEGRO
This piece is very flight of the bumble bee-esque. It runs up and down the 12-tone scale in semi-quavers. Like the piece before it, it is also defined by quavers in the bass, giving it a syncopated effect. Whilst it’s an intriguing and obviously well written piece, there doesn’t seem to be much I can write about other than what has already be written, given that the piece is made up of chromatic runs in the treble and rhythmic definition in the bass, which doesn’t dramatically change throughout the piece. To me, it wasn’t melodically pleasing as some of the pieces that have come before it. This leads onto a completely different theme. It is now very heavy, with surging dynamics, very thick with diabolical chords. This then changes into a rippling arpeggiated section, which towards the end, returns to the original motif, ending in the same grand manner it started in.

-Alexandra

RACHMANINOV – PIANO ETUDES 8 Etudes, Opus.33

MODERATO
The first section of this piece is made up of the same them of two semi-quavers and a crochet – F, E, F. At bar 5, the theme is built on, with quavers underneath, giving a syncopated feel to the piece. This theme then ascends and eventually becomes a semi-quaver run, staccato being the main written articulation. At bar 22, the theme changes a little – instead of F/D, F/D, E/A,F/D.E/G,F/D,G/E,E/C, F/D,D/B being played in the treble, F/D, F/D, E/A,F/D,G/E, F/D, E/A, F/D, F/D, E/C, D/B, C/A, D/B, E/C is played, leading to a new section. This leads back to the original theme of the piece and from there becomes a series of chromatic runs, which is defined by crashing quaver chords in the bass. Eventually, the piece comes out of this, and integrates this new theme with the original semi-quavers to crochet theme, which in transformed in pitch. The theme is played in many different ways, each with different underlying accompaniment. It sometimes has rolling arpeggios in the bass, or it stick to the original staccato syncopation motif.

GRAVE
This piece uses the lower register of the piano for really thick, dark and menacing sound, which eventually lengthens out into what can only be described as musical depression. Notation wise, the beginning of this piece uses quaver to minim variation – in doing this, the dissonant chords (mostly minims) are almost lunging out. The contour is disjunct. Once again, this is in 5/4, for reasons I believe surround the fact that there is less rhythmic pulse. Then comes the meno mosso for a total change of motif. Again we hear the rippling effect, with a C1 and C2 being played underneath. From here, the piece changes completely. It is no longer sad and “muddy” in sound, as we come to the “molto tranquilito” section ,which is truly blissful. Again, made up of the undercurrent of arpeggios with sustained notes in the treble. However, the Poco piu` mosso brings back that dissonant and sad sound again, gradually getting heavier and heavier in sound as it goes. But again, it changes, this time BACK to poco tranquilito, and the piece eventually fades out on the blissful motif.

ALLEGRO
In this section, Rachmaninov explores further, what I before described as the “angelic” section and also the “rippling effect. This piece is predominantly made up of lots of bass arpeggios as undercurrents and lots of broken chords. As in the first piece, he uses a main theme underneath sustained notes in the upper register – before it was syncopation, in this piece, it is the use of arpeggio. It is a piece based mainly on expression and has many many accelerando, ritardandos and a tempo changes marked in, making the piece very interesting to listen to, but very hard to follow on a score!

ALLEGRO MA NON TROPPO
The first part of this section is in 4/4 and is predominantly just made up of syncopation, with a single held note above it to provide melodic intrigue. It goes into a 5/4 are then returns to 4/4, for the reason, I’m assuming is the rhythmic effect he wanted – 5/4 gives it a more “flowing” sound, and I assume he returns to 4/4 for emphasis on the beat again. It then goes into 6/4, where it runs a small chromatic scale from A-F descending. The 6/4 section is much the same as the 4/4 section, although the highlighting notes above the syncopated melody are less forceful/percussive. It then goes into 5/4, which is less percussively driven and in its overall sound, it is sadder than the jumpy and lively section it started with. After the 5/4 area, it goes back into 4/4, into what, in my opinion, is angelic and sweet in manner. It’s a quiet interlude in-between all the musical mayhem. It doesn’t last long, as the piece reverts back to its original theme, but to me, it seems to have changed into a more serious and “march-like” variation of the opening of the piece. From here, he uses his main motif and the “angelic” sound I mentioned before, in contrast with each other. As he does this, there are too many time signature changes to note, so for now, I shall leave that out of the equation. To finish the piece, he creates a beautiful rippling effect, via the use of syncopating arpeggios, and then going into a quaver section in the treble, where he uses descending arpeggios. The piece continues, growing more dissonant towards the end, finishing the section with just a ghost of the original theme it started with.

-Alexandra

Rachmaninoff, S. ‘Preludes’ (piano texture)

Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. Often in his work the piano features mostly as a solo instrument or as part of an ensemble. I did read that, as a composition technique he made a point to use his own skills as a performer to explore the expressive possibilities of an ensemble. I thought that was interesting…

Seen throughout his work in the Preludes, Rachmaninoff focused greatly on the texture of the piano. He apparently was known for his large hands, and perhaps this influenced the texture greatly as it allowed him to play incredibly complex chords. Characteristics of his work are precision and a strong rhythmic drive as the melodic contour can change from rapid, staccato rhythms in a section A of a piece to sweeping and legatto rhythms. This kind of contrast was often seen in the score between the two staves. At one point the right hand would be playing abrupt rhythms while the left hand played the opposite. I would imagine this technique in a performer would be hard to master.

The texture of the piano is hugely important throughout the piece as the chords are what give the piece its soul in a way. The texture was often thick with hugely complex chords played consecutively and even when the piece was dialed down a little, the chord structures remained quite full. His work was very interesting to listen to because of this element and I found it was one of the defining qualities.

-Sascha