The five pieces of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Morceaux de fantaisie, op. 3 are one of the earliest indications of the composer’s burgeoning mature and individual style. Composed in 1892, the year of his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory, Rachmaninoff dedicated the set of pieces to his harmony professor, Anton Arensky. The work’s title, meaning “fantasy pieces,” alludes to their being, in essence, character pieces, and not to any freedom of form. Indeed, nearly all five pieces embody a regular ternary form.
Undeniably the most popular piece from the set, as well as being one of Rachmaninoff’s most beloved compositions for the piano, is the Prélude in C-sharp minor. Actually the first of the five pieces to be composed, it is different from its companions in shunning the influence of Tchaikovsky and giving a foreshadowing glimpse of the later mature style that Rachmaninoff would develop. In the bleak and dismal key of C-sharp minor, the Prélude opens with austere fortissimo octaves that become the work’s principal motif, heard continuously from its second repetition beneath an even more dreary sounding melody. This melody, bleak and cold, is one of the most recognizable in Rachmaninoff’s oeuvre, and has garnered the Prélude the epithet “The Bells of Moscow.” A faster agitato episode follows the close of the principal theme but does not escape its pessimism, driving forward with a descending motif that struggles to break free, only to come crashing down into a colossal restatement of the first theme written out across four staves. Quietly, however, the Prélude comes to a close with chords that ring in the listener’s ear like the toll of bells through the chilled air of midwinter. The piece was an instant success for the composer and he was virtually required on all occasions to perform it as an encore at his recitals. When combined with his two later sets of preludes, opp. 23 and 32, it completes an entire set of preludes in all twenty-four major and minor keys.Joseph DuBose
Classical Music | Piano Music
Sergei Rachmaninov
Prélude in C sharp minor, Op. 3, no. 2 Play
Recorded on 12/31/1969, uploaded on 04/02/2012
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
The five pieces of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Morceaux de fantaisie, op. 3 are one of the earliest indications of the composer’s burgeoning mature and individual style. Composed in 1892, the year of his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory, Rachmaninoff dedicated the set of pieces to his harmony professor, Anton Arensky. The work’s title, meaning “fantasy pieces,” alludes to their being, in essence, character pieces, and not to any freedom of form. Indeed, nearly all five pieces embody a regular ternary form.
Undeniably the most popular piece from the set, as well as being one of Rachmaninoff’s most beloved compositions for the piano, is the Prélude in C-sharp minor. Actually the first of the five pieces to be composed, it is different from its companions in shunning the influence of Tchaikovsky and giving a foreshadowing glimpse of the later mature style that Rachmaninoff would develop. In the bleak and dismal key of C-sharp minor, the Prélude opens with austere fortissimo octaves that become the work’s principal motif, heard continuously from its second repetition beneath an even more dreary sounding melody. This melody, bleak and cold, is one of the most recognizable in Rachmaninoff’s oeuvre, and has garnered the Prélude the epithet “The Bells of Moscow.” A faster agitato episode follows the close of the principal theme but does not escape its pessimism, driving forward with a descending motif that struggles to break free, only to come crashing down into a colossal restatement of the first theme written out across four staves. Quietly, however, the Prélude comes to a close with chords that ring in the listener’s ear like the toll of bells through the chilled air of midwinter. The piece was an instant success for the composer and he was virtually required on all occasions to perform it as an encore at his recitals. When combined with his two later sets of preludes, opp. 23 and 32, it completes an entire set of preludes in all twenty-four major and minor keys. Joseph DuBose
courtesy of YouTube
More music by Sergei Rachmaninov
Romance, Op. 11 No. 5
Prelude Op. 3, No. 2, in c-sharp minor
Prelude Op. 32, No. 5, in G Major
Etude-Tableau in A minor, Op. 39, No. 6
Prelude Op. 23, No. 10, in G-flat Major
Loneliness, Op. 21 No. 6
Prelude Op. 23 No. 5
Moment Musicaux Op. 16, No. 3
Piano Concerto No. 3 in d minor, Op. 30
Serenade, Op. 3
Classical Music for the Internet Era™