Dear Readers !
I want to tell you about one of the most difficult music pieces ever written
for piano solo: "Morceaux de fantasie Prelude " opus 3/2 ( also known
as "The Bells of Moscow") composed by Sergei Vasilyevich
Rachmaninoff in 1892. The composition is four page long in music sheets
transcription and it takes aroud four minutes to play and a lot longer to learn
how to play it...
It was composed in the grim C - sharp minor tonality in an even meter. The
prelude has ternary form (ABA)- is organized into three main parts
*The first movement - Lento (at a slow
tempo) begins with a three-note motif played fortissimo, which puts us in the
mood of the piece, then in the third bar the volume changes to piano pianissimo
to expose the theme;
*The second movement is market as Agitato
( in a restless and agitated manner )it begins with chromatic triplets
that pasionately builds to interlocking chord triplets that descend into
climatic recapitulation of the main theme;
*The last part of the works, the motifs from
the first part reappear and a coda (ending)- seven bar ending that end
quietly.
The
difficulty of this piece written by this well-known to everyone Russian
composer is wide-ranging and it mainly concerns
advanced technical requirements - "a sea of octaves" for
the right and left hand to be played in the first and last part of the work in
the form of consecutive eigth notes interspersed with an octal band and the
discrepancy of the dinamics and articulation (from piano pianissmo to forte
fortissimo or contrary )- it's hard to keep right dinamic with playing extremly
wide, massive chords at the same time, therefore it is really important to have
a great coordination, flexibility and strenght in both hands in order to play
correctly; also the difficulty of the interpretation -"Morceaux de
fantasie Prelude " opus 3/2 conatin very deep, hard to define emotions
such as sorrow, anger or pride - overall negative/melancholic emotion that can
be closely connected with lifestory of the composer who had been suffering from
depression , so every one can see something different in
this composition.
"The Bells of Moscow" is a wide-ranging and difficult composition
with incomprehensible message hidden through it by the Rachmaninoff.
I recommend listening to
Rachmaninoff's music, not only to the piece I shared with you, but also to
other masterpieces like "Vocalise", "Prelude in G minor",
"Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", "Piano concerto no.2",
"Piano concerto No. 3", "Isle of the dead" or "Polka
Italienne".
I hope I caught your attention and made you feel
interested in the topic.
Have a nice day.
XYZ
