Rachmaninoff, Preludes Op 32, First edition

Thirteen Preludes (russian: Тринадцать прелюдий, ''Trinadtsat' prelyudiy''), Op. 32, is a set of thirteen

prelude Prelude may refer to: Music *Prelude (music), a musical form *Prelude (band), an English-based folk band *Prelude Records (record label), a former New York-based dance independent record label *Chorale prelude, a short liturgical composition for ...

s for solo piano, composed by

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

in 1910. It complements his earlier Prelude in C minor, Op. 3/2, and 10 Preludes, Op. 23, to complete the full set of 24 Preludes in all 24 major and minor keys.

Pieces

Opus 32 contains 13 preludes: *No. 1 in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

(Allegro vivace) *No. 2 in B minor (Allegretto) *No. 3 in

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

(Allegro vivace) *No. 4 in E minor (Allegro con brio) *No. 5 in G major (Moderato) *No. 6 in F minor (Allegro appassionato) *No. 7 in F major (Moderato) *No. 8 in

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

(Vivo) *No. 9 in

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

(Allegro moderato) *No. 10 in B minor (Lento) *No. 11 in

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and its ...

(Allegretto) *No. 12 in G minor (Allegro) *No. 13 in D major (Grave – Allegro)

Prelude No. 10

Prelude in B minor, Op. 32, No. 10, was written in 1910 along with the other twelve pieces. Rachmaninoff was inspired by

Arnold Böcklin Arnold Böcklin (16 October 182716 January 1901) was a Swiss symbolist painter. Biography He was born in Basel. His father, Christian Frederick Böcklin (b. 1802), was descended from an old family of Schaffhausen, and engaged in the silk tra ...

's painting " Die Heimkehr" ("The Homecoming" or "The Return"). Rachmaninoff also stated to pianist

Benno Moiseiwitsch Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE (22 February 18909 April 1963) was a Russian-born British pianist. Biography Moiseiwitsch was born to Jewish parents in Odessa, Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine), and began his studies at age seven with Dmitry Klimo ...

that this was his personal favourite among his preludes. This is the second work of Rachmaninoff's to be inspired by one of Böcklin's paintings; the other being '' Isle of the Dead''.

References

Sources

*Baylor, Murray, Rachmaninoff 13 Preludes, Opus 32, For the Piano, Pg. 5. Alfred Music Publishing, New York,1988. *Brennan, Gerald, Schrott, Allen, Woodstra, Chris, All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music, Backbeat Books, California, 2005

External links

* *
Piano.ru – Sheet music download
*
Chubrik.ru – Audio download

Live Recording on YouTube
Video of Willis Miller's live recording of No. 12 in G♯ minor (Allegro). 1910 compositions Preludes by Sergei Rachmaninoff {{classical-composition-stub

Pieces

Prelude No. 10

See also

References

Sources

External links