Classical Music | Piano Music

Sergei Rachmaninov

Prelude Op. 23, No. 3 in D minor  Play

Steven Vanhauwaert Piano

Recorded on 06/10/2015, uploaded on 11/12/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Selections from Preludes, Op. 23                Sergei Rachmaninov

In 1886, Lubov Rachmaninov became desperate over her then 13-year old son’s lack of discipline and truancy at the St. Peterburg's Conservatory. Through her connections, Sergei was admitted to the Moscow Conservatory. In the next four years, she saw a complete transformation in the young man, who graduated both as a pianist and as a composer with the highest honors. This greatly impressed the publisher Gutheil, who immediately offered him a publishing contract. Among his first publications was the famous prelude, opus 3 in C sharp minor, a work which catapulted him into the international scene, albeit without financial benefits, due the absence of international copyright deals in Russia, He premiered three of the Preludes, opus 23 (1, 2, and 5) in 1903 and finished the other 7 in the following 3 weeks.  He ended up writing a total of 24 preludes in all major and minor keys, and most of them share a motivic connection to the first prelude in the opus 3 set.

The Opus 23 third prelude in d minor, with its archaic dance motive and stately character, serves as an introduction to the broad and lyrical D major prelude (no. 4), with his signature polyphonic writing. The 5th prelude Alla Marcia is to date the most popular of the set. Its military character was handily used by Soviet Propaganda during the Cold War, with Emil Gilels performing it on a military airstrip while soldiers look on. The E flat major prelude (no. 6) has the left hand meandering around a blissful melody in the right hand. It forms a nice contrast with the prelude no. 1, which has a much more dark and brooding character, evolving once again around the half step motive of the prelude opus 3. To conclude the set, I chose the B flat prelude (no. 2), with its exuberantly heroic character. It is noted for its impressive left hand cascades, which give way to a sonorous tenor melody in the middle section displaying Rachmaninov’s formidable lyricism.       Steven Vanhauwaert