Rachmaninoff Prelude in C Sharp Minor

[pnogirl]

hello everyone,

I am in the final stages of preparing my Prelude for a performances.  I was wondering what images or stories you all think of when performing this piece.  Any information would be great!

Thanks!

[lisztmusicfan]

I heard a legend that Rachmaninoff wrote this because of a dream he had had. He was at his own funeral, and this song was playing in the background. It kept building and building(Agitato until he finally saw himself in his own casket. Of course, this is only a rumor, but a great story none the less

[the_fervid_pig]

That's a great story, the subtitle bells of Moscow.. I imagine tanks rolling through the streets, I realise this happened many years later, but you can imagine his love of his home country at the time of his exile, the way he must have felt at leaving his birthplace. The bells like a final calling to him.

[redbaron]

It always reminds me of Christopher Young's main theme from Hellraiser.

[lateromantic]

That's a great story, the subtitle bells of Moscow.. I imagine tanks rolling through the streets, I realise this happened many years later, but you can imagine his love of his home country at the time of his exile, the way he must have felt at leaving his birthplace. The bells like a final calling to him.

Rachmaninoff wrote that prelude in the 1890s.  He didn't go into exile until 1917, in response to the Russian Revolution.  (I authored the bio-bibliography on Rachmaninoff.)

The piece is mournful enough that I can understand how one might want to give it that kind of interpretation, though.

[the_fervid_pig]

I realise that, it's just what I imagine on hearing it.

[in31l]

I always think of a man going mad whenever I hear this piece. Like he's spiralling out of control, trapped in a cell somewhere.