Rachmaninoff Prelude Op 23 No 4

[erick86]

Here, I attempt to do justice to the most romantic piece of music that I've ever laid ears on.  

Please give me any advice or feedback to help me nail it musically!  

Curious for anyone else has learned this piece -- how did you find memorizing it?   For me, for some reason, it is by far the most difficult piece i've had to memorize.  Technically, it's not very hard, but for some reason, its memorization has proven to be the most difficult part of the journey thus far.  

Cheers, and thanks for listening & critiquing

Eric

[lukediv]

Hi Erik,

I have studied this piece in the past and can also agree that for some reason, its a tough one to get under the fingers….

However, i thought you played it quite beautifully - you did an excellent job of bringing out the theme with the thumb of your right hand when the top part plays the new melody. The climax of the piece was handled well with plenty of emotion. It has to be the best part of the piece….

I really have no criticism at all, i just thought you deserved to be told that your hard work has paid off i really enjoyed listening to your version

[erick86]

Thanks, lukediv!

I think I can truthfully say it has been the most difficult piece I've worked on, and frustratingly so, because it's chill, relaxed, and simple and pure on the surface. There have been many times when it felt like it would never solidify, but it's just such a beautiful piece, I knew I had to keep working on it. 

There's something about the continuously wide traveling range of the left hand and the unique harmonies that make this piece very hard to learn for some reason.  It's not like the straightforward arpeggio-based pulse of a Chopin Nocturne, for example.  Every wave is different, and it's so easy to get mixed up.  I feel like this would have been miles easy to learn as a teenager, before the brain starting trying to analyze everything.   

[verqueue]

I also found this piece very hard to memorize. There is no comparision between memorizing this piece and the other Prelude you played recently (op. 32 no 10). There are some tough decisions about some notes - play them by left or right hand?

I like very much your performance. You are controlling this music, which is the main goal here. Your arpeggios are beatiful.

I think you can work more on legato in left hand in the first section - in the next sections it was better. It should be more fluent for me. In other sections you play it better.

[erick86]

Thanks, Verqueue!

I agree, the beginning could benefit from more legato.  I have to focus on longer lines, like giant gracefully swelling waves.  It sets the stage for the rest of the piece.

Thanks again,

Eric