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Topic: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2  (Read 1668 times)

Offline stefo78

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Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
on: June 11, 2014, 08:01:20 PM
Hello everyone,
Here is my recording of this prelude. Ok, some mistakes were not supposed to be, but, ouch, I wish I was able to record something without any....
What do you think of it ? What should I work on ?
Thanks !

Offline faulty_damper

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #1 on: June 12, 2014, 07:49:02 AM
First three notes:
1. tension>resolution; V-i; the C# should be softer than the previous two notes.  (Tension>resolution is something that you should be able to hear in your mind.)
2. voicing: the lower notes should be more prominent than the top.  This would express the depth of character better.  Voicing applies to the rest of the piece.

Keep a steady tempo.  Never let technical issues get in the way of the music.
Phrasing is almost non-existent; sounds like chords are plunked down without musical meaning.
Follow melodic shape of the chords and shape tempo and dynamics accordingly.

Offline pianoman53

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #2 on: June 12, 2014, 08:14:08 AM
So you're saying that the g# and the c# are soft?!  It's not just any basic music. It's something like the ghost of death, waiting for you.  You can't apply cliche classical rules to all music you hear.

Offline pianist1976

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #3 on: June 12, 2014, 08:44:04 AM
First three notes:
1. tension>resolution; V-i; the C# should be softer than the previous two notes.  (Tension>resolution is something that you should be able to hear in your mind.)
2. voicing: the lower notes should be more prominent than the top.  This would express the depth of character better.  Voicing applies to the rest of the piece.

Keep a steady tempo.  Never let technical issues get in the way of the music.

You are so damn wrong... I'm not the one who is telling you, it's Rachmaninoff himself through his recordings of this very prelude:


Offline stefo78

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #4 on: June 12, 2014, 04:27:25 PM
It's not the first time I hear that I do not make the right "phrasing". First, I may have a slight and blurred idea of what it could mean, and secondly I think I really have great difficulties to work on it.
In fact when I think "phrasing" and "musical meaning" when I work on something, then when I record my work, when I listen to it, that's deception : there's not the "phrasing" I wanted to put in it. What's the problem ? How people work their phrasing ?

BTW, do you think listening to this, that this piece is too difficult for me ?

Thanks !

Offline coda_colossale

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #5 on: June 12, 2014, 05:08:00 PM
So you finally recorded it  :D

I have to agree with faulty about the phrasing, but how on earth are the lower notes supposed to be more prominent than the top? I, quite contrary to that, play the lower notes pianissimo possibile, so that it masks the harmonic simplicity. Your pedal changes should be smoother. Actually everything should be smoother. There is a lot of inconsistency in your articulations and tempi.

I liked your middle part the most, where I think you have let the momentum to take over. I think you know how this piece is to be interpreted as far as I understand from your performance, but you have been only working on playing the notes. Probably because it was indeed difficult for you.

Offline faulty_damper

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #6 on: June 12, 2014, 07:01:34 PM

... but how on earth are the lower notes are supposed to be more prominent than the top? I, quite contrary to that, play the lower notes pianissimo possibile, so that it masks the harmonic simplicity.

You play it more loudly than the top, with this dynamic marking ^.  This brings out the depth and best expresses the character.  Playing it V makes it sound dainty.

Offline faulty_damper

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #7 on: June 12, 2014, 07:14:04 PM
So you're saying that the g# and the c# are soft?!  It's not just any basic music. It's something like the ghost of death, waiting for you.  You can't apply cliche classical rules to all music you hear.

No, not soft.  Only the C# is softer, not as loudly accented.  DUM! DUM! Dahhhh...  Maybe if I said that it's still supposed to be loud, but not accented, it is better understood.  The G# is the V; C# is the i.  Hence V>i.

Offline faulty_damper

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #8 on: June 12, 2014, 07:26:36 PM
You are so damn wrong... I'm not the one who is telling you, it's Rachmaninoff himself through his recordings of this very prelude:




Composers are rarely the best interpreters of their own work.  It started off quite fast, don't you think?  So should everyone play it exactly that way?  Or should musicians hear for themselves?

Offline pianist1976

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #9 on: June 12, 2014, 09:23:01 PM
So should everyone play it exactly that way?

Of course not (I think it's obvious). For example, I play this prelude slower than what Rach did. But I'm not as injudicious or conceited to say that my tempo is correct and the other ones don't, including the composer's. A music work have endless possibilities of interpretation. I enjoy many of them; it has absoutely no importance the fact that I would do it on a different way.

Offline stefo78

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Re: Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 n.2
Reply #10 on: June 19, 2014, 03:25:03 PM
Ough, that was some kind of deception to me, hearing Rachmaninov's own recording.... I particularly didn't like the agitato section.

OK, in all cases, I think I'll put this piece to rest for several months - that's too much for me for now.

Thanks to everyone for giving time and providing me useful information.
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