Rachmaninoff, Prelude Op. 32, No. 9 in A

[rachfan]

Rachmaninoff composed his Prelude, Op. 32, No. 9 in A on August 26, 1910. It is in ternary form. To say that this is a thick-textured piece would be an understatement. The melody often exists in a snippet motif, so much be recognized and emphasized. But there are actually three levels of writing: the right hand melody, the left hand octaves (which sometimes are melodic and enter the foreground), and filler notes to make the structure more robust, which must be deemphasized except for occasional melodic purposes. Rachmaninoff, probably believing that pianists can never get enough double notes, very generously provided them throughout this piece raising constant voicing challenges. Dynamics not noted by the composer most often follow the lines of the musical contours. I believe that the program for this piece is a large ship laboring through heavy waves. The middle section suggests a romance between the ship and the sea. Nearing the end of the voyage, the ship safely makes port with the town church bells pealing. This piece can be studied for a lifetime.  I’ve already studied it twice.  I hope you’ll enjoy hearing it.

Comments welcome.

David

Piano: Baldwin Model L Artist Grand (6’3”) with lid fully open.
Recorder: Korg MR-1000
Mics: Matched pair of Earthworks TC-20 small diaphragm, omni-directional condenser mics in A-B configuration

[ranniks]

That sounded nice to listen to.

[rachfan]

Hi ranniks,

Glad you liked it.  Thanks for listening!

David

[ted]

This would easily be one of the most difficult pieces you have posted, wouldn't it ? Not in simple, obvious matters like dexterity, but in devising a personal scheme to make meaningful the tangle of internal phrases and accents. There are probably hundreds of ways of doing it, and exactly how doesn't matter as long as something is done aside from playing notes. I had a few listens with and without the score, and either way an orchestral approach seems essential. It is multi-dimensional music and your spontaneous sounding playing captures this perfectly; at the cost of hours of work and thought I imagine, but the sterling effect you produce is worth it.

A ship you think ? You mean similar to MacDowell's A.D. 1620, "..lunges hugely on..", that sort of sensation ? The picture didn't leap at me, nothing really did, but yes, once told I can imagine it all right. Aren't those really odd harmonies in the piu vivo section ? Sounds choice coming from me with some of the things I play I know, but for some reason they stood out. When that happens we have the choice of regarding such events as either wrong or effective, and these days I usually choose the latter option.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

Yes, this is a difficult piece indeed!  Then again, Rachmaninoff seems never to have written anything easy.  As I mentioned in my notes, the aim has to be to manage the layers of the music to best emphasize what melodic (or polyphonic) element requires emphasis for the listener in the moment.  I agree with you about taking the orchestral approach.  In a way this piece is like Brahms who very often thought orchestraly while composing.  It gives a better account of the music moving through that very heavy texture.  Thanks for your kudos in my ability to project the musical line.

I was actually thinking of a square rigger or perhaps a clipper ship from the late 19th century.  But I like that "lunges hugely on" sensation you mentioned.  That is exactly what I feel while playing this piece.  The piu vivo section mystified me initially, as it's so very different from what has transpired beforehand.  But a thought came to me--the romantic Russian composers including Rachmaninoff absolutely loved bells!  As I thought about it, it occurred to me that it could be church bells pealing at the safe arrival of the storm tossed ship--sort of a celebratory gesture of thanks giving.  The two things that make that section difficult are the accidentals as well as the left arm executing those crossovers. 

Thanks for listening and your thoughts.  I appreciate it!

David

[lukediv]

Really enjoyed this performance 

Thank you for the bit of background info on russians and their love of bells haha! I'm working on the D major prelude currently and the final section definitely does remind me of bells tolling, so thanks!

[rachfan]

Hi lukediv,

I'm delighted that you liked my rendition of this prelude. Thanks! 

I recorded the Op. 23, No.4 in D also.  It's a wonderful piece.

Thanks for listening!

David

[goldentone]

Hi David,

I feel like you have transformed this piece--such breadth and depth.  "Assured journey" is what I hear in the opening bars, if that strikes you.  Just a shilling of advice, and that is that the first part of the piece, lasting about a minute, is taken too slow for the music to cohere.  But thereafter when you enter the meat of it, you are off in almost astonishing multidimensional artistry!  Your powers are only increasing.  I don't know how you're doing it, but keep on!

[rachfan]

Hi goldentone,

Thanks for listening and taking time to comment.  I appreciate that!  In the matter of the opening of the piece,  I believe I was around MM = 96 which satisfies the lower end of both allegro and moderato.  The thing is that this is a large ship under sail laboring through monstrous seas, so I wanted that resistance to be very evident.   As the ship makes progress and nears the coast and eventually the port, I allowed the tempo to increase, as it was then much easier sailing.  Thank you for those kudos on artistry. Made my day!  As for "increasing powers", I attribute that to working alone with each composer.  While I benefited hugely from studyinhg with two outstanding teachers in my time and are in their debt. Once I began working by myself years ago, I felt a much higher degree of  responsibility and accountability in matters of score, interpretation and execution.  By listening to myself carefully, I evolved into my own worst critic. I imagine that this is probably the path that most serious pianists take.

Thanks again for your kind words.

David

[costicina]

I do LOVE your Rachmaninov! Your intepretations are always inspiring. Tjank you so mjuch for sharing, David 

[costicina]

I do LOVE your Rachmaninov! Your intepretations are always inspiring. Tjank you so mjuch for sharing, David 

[rachfan]

Hi Marg,

Thanks so much for your enthusiastic comments!  This prelude is not as well known as some of the others, so I'm happy that you took the time to hear it.  Given the great beauty of this music, it was a pleasure to post it here. 

David

[emill]

Hello David!!!!

My "piano education" continues but with a good dose of Rachmaninoff nowadays.  Despite that I do not easily come to like some pieces immediately, your piece info comparing it to a ship's voyage in the ocean helps a lot understanding the composer's intentions.  Also the fact that the piece is cleanly played and recorded adds to the ease of listening and enjoying.  THANKS!

(Enzo has been going through the Corelli variations and Etudes op 39, 1 and 2, as if there was no tomorrow... practically 4-6 hours a day ...
as suggested by his soon to be teacher, Prof. Antonova)

[rachfan]

Hi emill!

Every time we listen to a piece that's new to us, we "stretch our ears".  So I'm glad that you continue on with your piano education.  Yes, anytime I play Rachmaninoff, if I feel a plausible "program" for the music, and I play it with that program in mind, then unlike Rachmaninoff who kept his programs a secret, I prefer to share them with my listeners.  Many people have expressed their thanks for the background information I provide.  So rest assured that I'll continue writing those brief narratives.

David

[gyzzzmo]

I can't really agree with your interpretation, to my opinion it should be played quite a bit faster so there is more flow and general line in the chords.
Still, i'm a big rachmaninov fan myself, and can only keep on encouraging you playing and posting his pieces, especially the less well known like this one.
Also, different interpretations can be great for inspiration and thank god not everybody plays the same way

[rachfan]

Hi gyzzzmo,

Thanks for listening.  I made an earlier recording of this prelude years ago which was faster.  As I listen to it now, there was too much hurried grabbing for the notes at the expense of artistic playing of nuances. While I respect the fact that Ashkenazy and Richter in his day played it faster to good effect, I believe that my slower tempo allows more lyricism in my own playing.  So when I decide on a tempo, I'm not concerned about what the professional pianists are doing or not doing.  I come up with my own programs and play to them.  I agree with you that differing interpretations are a blessing, otherwise all pianists would sound alike.  It would be quite boring to the listeners!  In the end we all play for ourselves.

I have posted 10 recordings of the Rachmaninoff preludes here since 2003.  Most are older analog recordings from the 1980s, but I have made three new digital recordings recently to replace older ones. I've also played Rachmaninoff pieces from the Morceaux de Fantaisies, the Moments Musicaux, and Rachmaninoff's own song transcriptions for piano.  

Again thanks for listening and commenting.

David

[gvans]

Bravo, David. Haven't heard from you for a while, and figured you were working on something wonderful...here it is. I'm not a big fan of programme music, but your analogy of the ship  lumbering through mixed up swells fits the opening and middle sections well, and the bell analogy in port, along with the prolonged "docking" sequence at the coda--is spot on.

Your control of pedal and articulation of the three lines, each with its own rhythmic impulse, is excellent. I'm curious how you learned it. Did you practice without pedal at first, then add it?

Well done, and thank you.

[rachfan]

Hi gvans,

Thanks for those compliments, I appreciate it!

Regarding your question, I go through a sequence when I'm learning a new piece.  First, I try to discover the character of the piece.  Although a title like elegy can identify it immediately, we also have to deal with vague descriptors such as prelude, lyric piece, moment musical, intermezzo, morceau, song without words, poeme and others.  So I try to determine what the composer might have had in mind.  Then I embed my interpretation in that notion or program.  This often has everything to do with the emotional content of the music which has to be projected for the listener.

My next step is to sit with the score away from the piano.  I pay attention to the overall structure, tempo, key signature, changes in meter, dynamics, accents, ledger lines that I can't read at sight, anything unusual such as cross-overs with the arms, and things happening in the accompaniment that should heard by the listener such as important voice leadings in the polyphony or a scalar passage, for example.

Once I start practicing, I do it first in a mechanical way articulating the keys and playing at forte. If the piece is difficult, I might do some hands-alone practice, but not for long.  I put the hands together as soon as possible. This is also the time when I work out effective fingerings, although I think of them as being tentative in case I later find some better choices.  

As for pedaling, I practice without it at first to make sure that I'm holding ties, using the best options for fingering, and playing as much legato with the fingers as possible.  

Once all the mechanics are in place and the piece is then at least playable,  I shift out of mechanical practice and into artistic playing.  Part of that, of course, is adding the pedal.  If pedal markings in the score make audible sense, I'll use them, but otherwise I develop my own.  In the late romantic repertoire I play (and impressionism as well), I like a lush pedal with quarter- and half-pedal releases to clear overtones as needed for clarity.  

At this stage I will often turn on the metronome to my chosen tempo and play along with it a few times. If I notice hesitations or a ragged passage here or there such that I'm unable to keep up with the metronome, I isolate those places and give them what I call intensive therapy. I find that helps build technique too, where I'm overcoming a difficulties. So this is a smoothing out phase.    

Finally, as I listen to myself play (very keenly and critically), I want to hear that I'm voicing for clarity, bringing out a cantilena, effecting clean pedaling, imparting a certain sweep to the piece, and ensuring that the components are building and fitting into the long line through integration and synthesis in the playing.  

When I record, I do it in full takes only.  Although I have software to do editing, I don't believe in it.  It's part of being Old School and being willing to take risks within the interpretation.

That's probably more than your wanted to know ha-ha!  But there you have it.

David

[gvans]

Not at all, David, I appreciate it. That's a wonderful post on a superb method of how to learn a difficult piece. Many, I think, omit that first step of sitting down with the score away from the instrument and studying it.

One thing you do not mention--and I like it--is you do not rush out and listen early on to a recording of someone else's interpretation of the work before you've formed your own impressions. My violinist does this and it drives me crazy.

"Why not form your own relationship with the score, and make your own interpretation? Why care how Szeryng or Heifitz or Stern (for us, Rubenstein/Pollini/Schiff, etc.) plays it?"

I tell him to only listen after he's made some artistic decisions, that it's better to have a personal relationship, as it were, with a composer. But he's too hard-headed.

Glenn

[rachfan]

Hi Glenn,

Yes, thanks for reminding me of that, as I too feel strongly about it. When I'm learning a new piece I avoid listening to recordings.  And it's for the very reason you mention--it's far better to develop your own individual interpretation of the piece. Individuality and personality have to influence one's interpretation to some degree. The worst scenario, of course, is copying someone else's performance and poorly at that. The only exception I make is if I'm relearning a piece that I myself recorded previously.  I will listen to that recording of my own playing to see if there are things that I want to avoid, improve, or play differently somehow.  I've relearned three of these Rachmaninoff preludes so far (I might do more).  I'm startled as to how my 2013 renditions differ from those of the mid-1980s!  And in each case I believe they are better.  But that's as it should be.  As one matures not just in age, but also in terms of life experiences, it's not surprising that a pianist widens his perspective which will then influence his interpretation.  

David