Help with Rachmaninoff Prelude

[tylerhink]

Hi, Im having trouble with Prelude in C# minor at measure 35 to 43 where there are those chords that go down the piano.

1st Is it supposed to be faster then all of the other parts of the song? It always sounds that way in recordings.

2nd Any advice on how to get it faster?

Thanks
Tyler

[ghbarrows]

You can't do better than listening to Rachmaninov's recording (Rachmaninov Plays Rachmaninov - The Ampico Piano Recordings (1919 -29))- I'm not sure that how you want to play it the way he does, but he was a meticulous artist so I think that's the way he intended it.  They should be available at Amazon (that's where I got my copy) and they have very nice fidelity considering the time they were made.

Learning all difficult music (this was my piano recital at age 14 - can you think of a better piece for a 14 year old boy?), requires lots of drill at slow speed with careful attention to fingering.  I'm sure you can master this one if you're patient.  Once learned, it will be with you forever.

[avguste]

I would need to hear you play to help you, but generally speaking, Rachmaninoff allows for lots of rubato and each performer's interpretation is somewhat different. It is a romantic music, heart.

As far as getting it faster, my suggestion (without hearing you) is to use a metronome, slowly and build from there.
Begin at say 60 at the quarter and go up 2 by 2 or 5 by 5.
Divide the piece in sections and dont move past a section until the one you are doing is good, sounds good