adding octaves to the rh single notes in Rach Prelude in g

[diomedes]

The sequence in the middle of the A part, all the full chords and jumps to (octaves). I can't get this 100% reliable in accuracy and tempo. The octaves alternating with single notes is just not fun. I worked on it last year, performed it recorded it, wasn't fun then isn't fun now.

So off i go to youtube, Mr.Matsuev our friend, goes and fills the right hand with octaves. Strange, when i had a student learn this years ago, he had issues with it, i said go ahead put in the octaves (at that point i had never learned the work). So i did learn it, subsequently apologized to him regarding the advice.

Now this. Anyone have any knowledge/experience regarding this?

[diomedes]

Had to make a separate post in order to attach image. Top two lines of the page.

[feddera]

For what it's worth, my teacher told me also to play the RH as octaves in this passage.

[chopinlover01]

I would do so, both because it's easier and it gives it more "bravura".

[j_menz]

IMO, Rachmaninoff actually had a purpose here in differentiating complexities of sound. Plain octaves don't yield that.

The octave-single note bits also seem to me to suggest a 1-4, 5, 1-4, 5 fingering which also gives slight phrasing that enhances the volume/depth effect.

[diomedes]

The octave-single note bits also seem to me to suggest a 1-4, 5, 1-4, 5 fingering which also gives slight phrasing that enhances the volume/depth effect.

The fingerings are implicit, yes. That's confirmed by the fact he doesn't arrange the 1st group the same way, it's all octaves B flat, C, D, E flat where such fingerings would be impractical. I'd rather play it the way he has it also.

A large part of it is the black keys and how they fit with the fingerings. Of the 4 groups, the last one fits the fingerings flawlessly and it needs no training for the hand to grasp it. The 2nd groups is ok, but needs work. The 3rd group, i do octaves, it's all on white keys getting reliability on it is a lot to ask at a brisk tempo.

I was doing some recording work now, i find octaves on the white key group doesn't end up being noticable and reliability increases significantly.

[blackonwhite]

I found it very much easier when octaves are added its a good method and most people won't notice this little "cheat".

[diomedes]

I went back to exactly how Rachmaninov wrote it. It does make perfect sense, but it's still rather unnatural technically. Usually anything unnatural, like Medtner rythms or the many other kinds of acrobatics composers devise take so much time and resources to deal with and probably the most difficult part: make it 100% secure for performance.

Anyway, i had to change how i conceive the passage in my mind and do some serious and consistent practice. Seems quite good now, and you can get quite a fast execution on them, faster than octaves i think.

Another example that reminds me almost exactly of this one is the last page of the Saint-Saens toccata: Sure interlocking octaves that's standard technique, but what he does is instead of left hand playing octaves it plays.....7ths? I can't think of why and it makes the passage so out of the ordinary and 10 times more difficult than it should be. Almost tempted to turn them into octaves.