Difficulty Reading Parts of Rach's Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 36 Bbm (Non-Allegro)

[mathandmusic]

Hello!  

I'd like to note that I'm particularly interested in the interpretation by Simon Trpceski whose recording is available for free listening on Spotify under "Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op 36 (Rev 1931): Non Allegro".

I've also attached a copy of the sheet music which I believe to be the transcription for Mr. Trpceski's performance.


I've circled the parts that I have trouble reading (See No2Op36 Attachment). For BLUE and GREEN, it would help if you heard Simon's performance.

RED: How do I play the series of 8th-notes attached to the beam marked with '5' in 12/8, the time signature for that section? In the preceding notes of that measure, I noticed that a similar set of notes is played for the duration of a dotted quarter note. Does this mean that the 5 notes are played with equal time division for the duration of a dotted quarter note (in this case 5 notes  played in a single "one-two-three")?

BLUE: Are the three notes preceding the G-clef on the bottom staff an example of appoggiatura? How are they played differently than an arpeggiated chord?
I tried swiftly arpeggiating the three notes and "landing" on the chord played concurrently with the first group of 16th notes. Is this the correct approach?

ORANGE: In the upper clef, am I looking at a group of 4 sixteenth notes with a double-dotted note played with the second 16th note and a 32nd note played after the last 16th note? When and for how long is the double dotted note and the 32nd note played?

GREEN: Before the G-clef, there are 5 and 3 notes on the upper and lower clefs, respectively. How do I play these notes concurrently? Do I play the first, third and fifth note of the upper clef with the first, second, and third notes of the bottom clef and play the 2nd and 4th note of the upper clef in between when I play the 3 notes?

[j_menz]

RED: Does this mean that the 5 notes are played with equal time division for the duration of a dotted quarter note (in this case 5 notes  played in a single "one-two-three")?

Yes. You should note that the first B is tied over from the preceding one, so doesn't sound.

BLUE:
I tried swiftly arpeggiating the three notes and "landing" on the chord played concurrently with the first group of 16th notes. Is this the correct approach?

Yes.

ORANGE: In the upper clef, am I looking at a group of 4 sixteenth notes with a double-dotted note played with the second 16th note and a 32nd note played after the last 16th note? When and for how long is the double dotted note and the 32nd note played?

The double dotted note is played at the same time as the first of the sixteenth note, the 32nd note is played after the last of the 4 sixteenth notes. The double dotted note is held until the 32nd note is played.

GREEN: Before the G-clef, there are 5 and 3 notes on the upper and lower clefs, respectively. How do I play these notes concurrently? Do I play the first, third and fifth note of the upper clef with the first, second, and third notes of the bottom clef and play the 2nd and 4th note of the upper clef in between when I play the 3 notes?

You play the first of both sets tohether and then balance them out so the set of 5 and the set of 3 take the same time.

If this is the first time you have encountered polyrhythms, I would strongly advise that you set this piece aside for a bit and do some pieces with simpler versions first. Rachmaninoff is rarely a good place to be learning such things.  Do a search of this forum, you will find plenty of suggestions regarding appropriate pieces and techniques.

[mathandmusic]

Thank you for answering my questions!

Yes, this is the first time I've encountered polyrhythms (thanks for putting a name to it! I will definitely look into it). I thought the rhythm was weird. This piece is way beyond my level but I loved it so much I had to give it a try  .

[mathandmusic]

The double dotted note is played at the same time as the first of the sixteenth note, the 32nd note is played after the last of the 4 sixteenth notes. The double dotted note is held until the 32nd note is played.

That makes a lot more sense since the total duration of the double dotted note and the 32nd note is a quarter note. However, do you have an explanation for why there is a line connecting the double dotted note and the 2nd sixteenth note?

[j_menz]

That makes a lot more sense since the total duration of the double dotted note and the 32nd note is a quarter note. However, do you have an explanation for why there is a line connecting the double dotted note and the 2nd sixteenth note?

Bad printing. It actually connects to the first sixteenth note, not the second. Not sure why it does that, though - maybe to give the effect of it being an octave chord (though the bottom A isn't held) as well as the bottom A being part of the sixteenth note figure.

[apmapmapm]

I used to be frustrated when I had trouble deciphering the rhythmic properties in a fragment, but it's usually the printing that complicates these things. Here it's a matter of clustering the notes too tightly and therefore making it a little too hard to read exactly what is meant. Best of luck on this movement at least - it is quite lovely.