I was in a mental hospital when I found this so now this reminds me of the chaos going on inside my head every time I listen to it. I don’t mind the feeling it gives me.
He is the god who let's our hearts dance and cry and in the same way makes us laugh and sing. It's a feeling that I every time recept with big joy as a heavenly gift. Thank you for your indescribable wonderful music, dear beloved and adored Sergei Rachmaninoff ❤️❤️❤️
To be honest, I am fond of Rach. His brutal, sometimes irony-sharp, music transfigurated into such tenderness... It's breathtaking. And his gipsy, gipnotic elements, ohhh. I love u, Sergey Vassilyevich😍
Every now and again, away from the 'pianicity' and the complexity of his compositions, something ethereal and deeply soulful will drift in. Him and Bach - on another level.
Coincidentally Tim, the piece was actually named by Rachmaninoff (or at least by Respighi, the orchestrator to whom Rachmaninoff told the inspiration behind several of these etudes) as 'The Sea and The Seagulls'. I don't know whether you were unaware of this or were simply planning on using this as a fallback in the case that anyone disagreed with you, but if the former is the case, I think that's a true testament to Rachmaninoff's compositional genius.
Lugansky's no.2 is so incredibly well delivered that it genuine sounds like he's making up the music on the spot, and it creates such a poetic subtlety.
Fr it almost make it sound like a counterpoint piece in some parts, or just as if he was playing like he was speaking/talking and not like he was reading already composed piece
If one-tenth of one percent of the videos on RUclips exhibited as much care, passion and thought in their publication notes the world would be a much better place. Thank you and well done.
Hayroudinoff is great, but it's Lugansky who makes me feeling addicted to this music. For me, Nikolai Lugansky is currently the best pianist in the world
U better learn from the 8th etude of how to compose chinese/japanese/korean classical music! as well as from debussy and the number of other european masters of more modern era
These piano pieces are very emotional. I like to listen to the second, "sea and seagulls", in perfect, silent darkness; the central part makes me think of a wounded bird whirling before crashing into the sea, but still fighting against an invisible enemy. The last notes are sublime. The Days of Wrath is the third study, the end of which reminds me of a heart in agony that ends up fainting
The No. 8 E-T is truly the most luxurious and dreamiest piece I've ever encountered. I would assume that award would go to Scriabin or Debussy, but Scriabin's say 8th sonata is more "ghostly" than dreamy, and Debussy is more "hazy" than dreamy. The colors just astound me every time.
I really appreciate the work you do each time you upload a video. Listening to different interpretations of the same piece is a very enriching experience and I'd never heard of Hayroudinoff but the moment I discovered his playing of no 5 and 6 I fell in love with him. Thank you so much for your effort and beautiful descriptions :)
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!! I've been... So I've always been so frustrated by these Etudes, because they...I don't feel like I've been able to find good recordings of so many of them. LIke they seem like they have a ton of potential, but they're tough interpretive puzzles, and I've been just REALLY unhappy with so many of these. and *I* can't freaking control them well enough to make them sound like anything. I haven't listened to them all, but the Hayroudinoff recording of 39 3 makes this whole thing worth it by itself!! Thanks!!!
How does one even compose music like this?? It makes so little sense to me yet it makes so much sense at the same time. Rachmaninoff truly was a unique composer and musical mind.
Rachmaninoff's late music was surely something else. It was a depart from the classic lyrical romantic style and he had matured fully as a composer. It's this stuff that you don't find elsewhere.
You sit on a piano for hours, waiting for your idea to come, while experimenting with what you already have. Then continue until you are able to string things together.
Returned to this today for meditation. Thank you much for such thoughtful notes. Everyone who loves Rachmaninov knows Lugansky, but Hayroudinoff is incredible and must look him up!
I am pretty ignorant to the nuances of classical music have never heard these etudes before. But Lugansky's playing on No 4 (especially the end) is so effortless, it feels without thought, and each note joins the next in such unison and feeling of connectedness, it's really amazing. Something about it resonates so strongly and I miss that feeling with other versions.
My piano teacher from Indiana recorded the entire Etude Tableaux, and I've practically memorized how the music is played by him for years, but it only took one listening to realize a better interpretation like on this video.
Great descriptions--thank you for teaching me something new about these incredible pieces. No. 8, especially Ruth Laredo's recording, is unsurpassed for me: the mystery, joy, and tragedy of our existence distilled into 3 minutes of aural sublimity.
I think a tremendously underrated aspect/texture that R. utilizes (and uses more often as he ages, along with his other signature techniques like bells, marches, chants/chorales, and his famous heartwrenching melodies) is The Swirl (fast, "chittering", chromatic, jagged, "spiky", "almost atonal" swirls of notes that typically sweep up and down the piano. In the lower register, extremely dark and menacing; in the upper register, light, but still with a certain darkness, like dancing on hot coals). For example, -Op. 39 No. 1 (the viciousness!!!) -Op. 33 No. 5 -high register parts of Op. 39 No. 6, though it is interspersed with other things so it doesn't feel like a continuous swirl -2nd movement of Sonata 2 climax (with E minor bells, and cascading sheets of the main "Fibonacci 1-1-2-3-5" motif, pouring down until it hits the very bottom of the keyboard, and then swirls back up into oblivion) -beginning of 3rd movement coda in Sonata 2 (I commented in that video that those runs sounded like "ripping the notes out the keyboard") -Variation 15 in Op. 43 Paganini Rhapsody -Woodwinds in 2nd movement of Op. 45 Symphonic Dances -Fast parts of 3rd movement of Op. 40 Piano Concerto 4 And perhaps some from earlier, though they feel a bit more "grounded"/"tonal": -Op. 16 No. 2 -Op. 32 No. 6 (F minor prelude) -Op. 23 No. 9 (Eb minor prelude) -the fast C minor bit before the 2nd subject in 1st Movement of 2nd Piano Concerto I contrast this with Op. 39 No. 3 which opens with fast and chittering high register notes, but those sound more like bells than Swirls. Though in the development/middle of Op. 39 No. 3 there are plenty of Swirls. I am reminded of Chopin's 2nd sonata 4th movement, "chromatic moaning"/"winds whipping through gravestones". ---------- When I listen to Prokofiev, I am often blown away by his melodic and harmonic inventiveness (e.g. the melody evolves/leaps in a direction that I would never had had the imagination to take it, or the harmony changes in a way that is crazy on paper, but brilliant in the ear). Rachmaninoff's melodies are much more straightforward (more "motivic"), but it is in his Swirls that I again marvel at music and texture that I would never had had the imagination to create (that I didn't even know the piano could make, before I heard R.'s writing).
@@mitchell-bt3tj yes of course! I was just practicing some arpeggios to tack on to the end since im only learning the first half. Right now I'm also working on Chopin etude op 9 no.1, HR2 lassan, and the revolutionary etude.
Hot damn, that opening movement is something out-of-this-world! I feel like I need to follow along at a quarter the speed just to comprehend whats going on at any given moment. Absolutely stunning performance.
I have not yet heard a completely successful rendition of No. 7, I don't think neither of these two pianists understands the spirit of the piece in all its depth. For me studying this piece has been one of the most extraordinary experiences in life, it is a work that lets one (when thoroughly studying and playing it) into a truly otherworldly realm in a depth I have not met elsewhere in music (I don't mean there weren't other works that can do that too, surely there are some). A piece that can give you unique insights and change you. For not a complete analysis but just a couple of remarks, Lugansky makes in the first part sforzandi that aren't written on the score and I don't understand them at all, there should not be such "shouting" (except for 26:04), that's nothing of the substance of the story being told there. The whole section from _poco meno mosso_ (27:38) is commonly most misunderstood among interpreters in this piece and it is also by these two: Hayroudinoff, even more than Lugansky, thinks "OK, this where the étude begins" and takes it _'molto piú mosso'_ instead of what the score clearly tells. A totally unthinkable artistic choice. I think the challenge here is of course _not_ to play it fast (it isn't even hard to play fast at all) but to play it instead slowly, strivingly, languishingly, like a long, desperate wandering in the wilderness, lost and spiritually starving. (That is VERY hard to achieve pianistically.) From there can rise a mighty and supernatural apotheosis and transfiguration (climbing to which starts at 30:19, stepping to a purely spiritual level at 30:29, "transfiguration" at 30:40). It just won't work with Lugansky's, let alone Hayroudninoff's tempo, eg. the chords at 30:29 are being just rushed through and they mean not much of anything, they won't "open the heavy gates to the heaven" of 30:40 (which is also rushed through!) so to say. The 30:40 part should feel like taking a look somewhere where a mortal being isn't allowed to go! It is not of this world. Like the 30:40 part, already those 30:29 chords should feel irreal, shocking, in every way unbelievable and very powerful after the long pianissimo part. They won't do that if you haven't really been totally exhausted by this long, agonising "Dark Night of the Soul" wandering. The job of the musician is always to make sense of the score and figure out which big picture to paint out of it, ie. what is the story that the composer has wanted to tell. The Op. 39/7 is so strange and one of its kind that it's maybe not surprising that it is rarely understood, maybe as it is thought of as an étude and typically played too fast. What it asks artistically and spiritually is as demanding as anything can be in the piano repertoire, it asks one to dive unbelievably deeply into its realm in order to construct it appropriately, highlight the right things and really make the story work. And the answer, how to make sense of this music is not to try to make it easier or more comfortable to listen to in any way. It should be a shocking and exhausting and only in a very excruciating way rewarding experience to listen to this piece. Nothing of an easy listening. And no purely enjoying the musical content or "empowering oneself" but investigating one's spiritual inner and contemplating the sacred. (I would very rarely use this expression but I think, here it is appropriate.) Lugansky understands the architecture quite well per se, but he is still hasting and doesn't take the time to make all necessary arguments meaningfully, so I just don't believe what he's saying. There's unnecessary anger, the "wandering" part isn't meaningful, the apotheosis isn't credible and thus the slowly fading and shriveling ending (as the "gates of heaven" close again) can't be truly abysmal, as it should, either. Of Hayroudinoff nothing much better to say, only the first part I liked better at times.
Unglaublich die drei Interpreten und die Musik.In Russland auf dem Dorf damals.DAS SIND DIE KLÄNGE,die Rachmaninov im Dorf u. auf dem Land zu hören bekam.Absolut schön.
Listening in nighttime, fantastic! On Scriabin comments, Rach and Scriabin were music classmates. When Scriabin died (strangely due to infected sore of lip!), Rach traveled around Russia performing Scriabin's compositions to raise money for his widow and children.
When Ashish says Lugansky handles the climax on no 7 really well whst he really means is Lugansky stopped playing and became the music for a moment because that was a freaky climax.
Some parts of no.3 reminded me of Scriabin's 4th sonata and something of middle- and late-Scriabin's style in general (rugged rythms, descending staccato arpegios in left hand). Hayroudinoff makes it incredibly well, this is the first rendition I totally like. But Lugansky's tempo is much more allegro molto. It would be interesting to hear Sofronitsky play this one, he could hold both tempo of Lugansky and clarity and melodiousness of Hayroudinoff I believe. About no.6 - there is an outstanding on my opinion performance of it by Natalie Schwamova here on youtube.
Something I will note - I first really began to love this set a couple months ago, and wasn't really grabbed by the Sofronitsky recordings. I came back today to try them, and now I understand why you love them so much. MAybe it's just me, but I had to listen to the pieces many times before I could appreciate the mastery he displays. Thanks as always, your work is much appreciated!
Etude no. 8 invokes a cold, modern and surreal feeling to me that stands out from the rest, hence why it’s my absolute favourite short piece of Rachmaninoff and of any composer (the climax and the later scherzando section are just captivating). Just wondering, does anyone know of any pieces that are similar in tone to this one?
I’d recommend Rachmaninoff’s Op. 32 No. 2 and Op. 33 No. 4 - both have that same kind of cold, wintery quality with cool harmonies to them! And then I’d also recommend Chopin’s G Major Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 2, which I think inspired Rachmaninoff a great deal for these pieces (particularly in the harmonic turns, like the parallel major/minor move he uses a few times)
Nikolai Lugansky is easily my favourite prodigy, his takes on Rachmaninoff are just excelent (I also like Emil Gilels). Rachmaninoff was the reason I got back to playing piano after 7 years of inactivity (I stopped playing the piano, when I was 15, because I finally could. I hated the instrument, I was forced to play it.). I've grown up a bit mentally and discovered the beauty of the world of the classical music and especially the one of the big-handed fella. :)) Opening the piano's keyboard dust cover was just the next logical step. I just started learning 39/1, I guess I will not be able to ever play it, but I certainly won't give up. So far I've been able to learn to play the Moment Musicaux 16/4, Preludes 23/5, 23/7 and 3/2, Etude Tableux 33/5(4) and Elegie 3/1. Of course, my takes on those pieces are flawed, especially compared to Lugansky, but whatever, I'm a chemical engineer, not a professional piano player and do not have any mentor. This piece is much more difficult, but It always is satisfying to make some progress, to find out how to play some seemingly impossible part due to the need to use another approach, that makes things easier. Sometimes I play the pianoes at the streets. A smile always conjures up on my face, when people like it and ask me, who the compositor is (even more, when it's my own composition, or my arrangement of someone else's work). By the way, sir, I love your descriptions. :-)
It’s easy to be a chemical engineer , this is by far unreachable ! No point consoling yourself if you want to attain this level of expression. I’m an electronics 20:32 major / economics major but I practise like mad to be better :)
Yes indeed, No.2 has the Dies Irae in the bass. A very esoteric musical theme used much by Franz Liszt and again in the 2.nd symphony by Rachmaninoff. Probably the most esoteric and spiritual theme in all music. There is a music thesis in the net regarding this theme and the story is fascinating. Please do google it. in the Verdi requiem also.
Etude Tableau no. 7 is said to have been inspired by Scriabin's funeral, which Rachmaninoff attended. According to Rakh: it is a funeral procession (bars 1-23), accompanied by songs (bars 24-32); it starts to rain (bars 39-69), then a church is heard (bars 70-102). The idea of death therefore dominates this work.
Not only that but these etudes were written during 1917 times, and as you know those times were very harsh for Russia, protests, revolutions, civil war, dethroned Nicholas II… and Rachmaninov had enough and left Russia. These etudes were the last one he wrote in Russia, and in my opinion they represent all of the turmoil and bustle that happened during those times, and how the composer felt.
I used to hate the opus 39 ; I had a listening passion that I couldn't change into a playing one, even at an advanced age. Now I have forgotten this period and miss the hate and the illusion. I even wanted to compose like R when I was 15. I am disappointed by life, or music. So many works are not a part of me, they just promise to be an opportunity to have something :'-(
Well, it's true you'll never learn it all, no one could. Part of the problem for me when it comes to listening transforming to learning is that new pieces get absolutely mangled in the attempt. It can take a long time to learn a piece, but even if it does, and you learn just one etude, a favourite of the set, that's better than nothing. Years ago, I could not have learned the two pieces I'm working on now. I always love them, and daydreamed while listening that it would be me playing them like that some day. Well, who knows. It still might. Even if it's only for myself. Don't give up or sell yourself short.
We live in different times from the great composers, emphasis is not on beauty and art but on money. We need to find balance before it's too late. I love Leonard Cohen, his song "Everybody Knows" states our human quandary perfectly.
NO ONE comes close to the interpretation of No 6 than Lugansky, crisp clean and tells a story absolutely musicality first followed by amazing virtuosity.
You're really not kidding about the buildup in #9 -- I was listening to this in the background and had to check what I was listening to. Absolutely massive.
While he had large hands, a lot of his music was meant to be played right and together. His music had a lot of chromatic scales because although he liked them, he had trouble playing them because of his large hands. It was almost like he used his compositions as a way to practice and get better
The way the satisfying blaze of No. 3 gives way to the No. 4’s gallivanting irks me. I love both but that particular shift in tone just makes me huff. Has anyone else felt this?
Number 1 sounds absolutely seething. When not in all out rage mode, it seethes, a person just boiling over inside, about to erupt at something. Unable to vent, the midsection being milder is tears of rage. Eventually those are spent, but the rage is still there, until the terrifying end of this etude. I love it! Number 3 sounds more alarm bell than angry to me. Like someone on the alert and warning others of some impending danger. Number 5 is good and menacing, though IMO it seems to set up a scene of some kind rather than convey an emotion.
Your description is so well written that you are now cited as a reference in the wikipedia article for these pieces en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tudes-Tableaux,_Op._39
![The most beautiful equation in math, explained visually [Euler’s Formula]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/f8CXG7dS-D0/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TF2] The Russian Bear Trap](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YFNSwz2_rOA/mqdefault.jpg)
you need a prize for most thoughtful/poetic/informative/intellectual video description
+christine tan i second that
honestly, keep up the good work. I seriously adore your channel and your analysis.
He has enough with the youtube monetization Iguess, not even the longer videogame streams have a that number of spots.
@@fakelove7272 do you realise he gets no money from this because of copyright? the label of the artist puts ads on and they get the money
@@breakthrough673 the pianist lol
I was in a mental hospital when I found this so now this reminds me of the chaos going on inside my head every time I listen to it. I don’t mind the feeling it gives me.
Я все понимаю. Но тебе лучше слушать Моцарта.. Не надо вызывать хаос в голове музыкой Рахманинова. Она сложна. А хаос ты уже пережил...
(Self Reference for phone)
Lugansky:
No.1 -- 00:00
No.2 -- 03:03
No.3 -- 10:04
No.4 -- 12:37
No.5 -- 16:15
No.6 -- 21:31
No.7 -- 24:16
No.8 -- 31:58
No.9 -- 35:13
Hayroudinoff:
No.1 -- 38:53
No.2 -- 42:18
No.3 -- 48:45
No.4 -- 51:43
No.5 -- 55:32
No.6 -- 01:00:18
No.7 -- 01:03:08
No.8 -- 01:09:45
No.9 -- 01:13:05
Sofronitsky:
No.4 -- 01:17:05
No.5 -- 01:19:33
No.6 -- 01:24:12
Abhi Chakladar z
Thanks a lot!
Gracias Maestro
Thank you. 👌
Thank you!
No. 7 is so special. The soundworld is terrifying. And the climax is among his most epic!
My favorite. It needs to be played a specific way to sound ok and remove a single note the entire piece would fall apart. It’s such a hidden gem.
all three pianists are very big interpreters, but Lugansky plays so that you do not like to hear another pianist after him. Unique!
Listen to Richter though
Yes Lugansky is such a perfect balance of everything!
i. Actually I like Hayroudinoff sometimes more
It's sad Sofronitsky's recording is old, because it's the better of all three to me.
lugansky is the rachmaninoff interpreter
There are times when I listen to Rachmaninoff and I just cry, not only because of his beautiful music, but because of the tremendous difficulty. XD
Lol, well-played (no pun intended).
He is the god who let's our hearts dance and cry and in the same way makes us laugh and sing. It's a feeling that I every time recept with big joy as a heavenly gift. Thank you for your indescribable wonderful music, dear beloved and adored Sergei Rachmaninoff ❤️❤️❤️
the skill of these people is simply insane
To be honest, I am fond of Rach. His brutal, sometimes irony-sharp, music transfigurated into such tenderness... It's breathtaking. And his gipsy, gipnotic elements, ohhh. I love u, Sergey Vassilyevich😍
Rachmaninoff’s scores are like art work. So many lines and notes, very intricate and tricky to read
Lines and notes are the easiest part of it; look at all those accidentals and polyrhythms!
This is why I prefer baroque pieces: there usually aren't that many signs
@@tuluppampamto listen to or to play?
@@levonkeijner1092 to play, but I prefer to listen to later music
Can we talk about how epic Lugansky’s No. 3 is??
Yes, best performance of this piece!
Eddie Hutchence *Sure...*
Not so much as №5
Maybe and No. 8 is?))
@@iXNomad epic in a sense of musical poetry I guess.
The bass that lugansky does at 15:52 is unbelievably insane
Every now and again, away from the 'pianicity' and the complexity of his compositions, something ethereal and deeply soulful will drift in. Him and Bach - on another level.
No. 2 is so haunting, so atmospheric. It sounds *lonely* to me. Waves lapping on a deserted beach, grey water against grey sky.
Tim Ward Grey water against a grey sky is perfect for that.
It reminds me of Ravel "Oiseaux tristes". Still they're different pieces but you can feel this lonely, floating atmosphere.
Lucas Machado I agree with that. The ravel piece really makes me feel a certain way if I’m not in a right mood. It’s so desolate at times.
Coincidentally Tim, the piece was actually named by Rachmaninoff (or at least by Respighi, the orchestrator to whom Rachmaninoff told the inspiration behind several of these etudes) as 'The Sea and The Seagulls'.
I don't know whether you were unaware of this or were simply planning on using this as a fallback in the case that anyone disagreed with you, but if the former is the case, I think that's a true testament to Rachmaninoff's compositional genius.
@@maxpayne354 I knew the title (AXK mentions it in the intro, even if I didn't), but you're right, the piece is a real work of genius.
Lugansky's no.2 is so incredibly well delivered that it genuine sounds like he's making up the music on the spot, and it creates such a poetic subtlety.
Fr it almost make it sound like a counterpoint piece in some parts, or just as if he was playing like he was speaking/talking and not like he was reading already composed piece
I can play no.2, but I can't play that. It doesn't even sound like the piece anymore, it's transcended it.
When I am at my lowest point in life, this music really fits my mood
1:00:18 - This is the best rendition of this piece.
That no.2 really hits different at 12am in a dark room
Your notes are amazing--thanks so much for the commentary!!
Yes, it's very interesting finding out more about musical pieces through notes like this.
If one-tenth of one percent of the videos on RUclips exhibited as much care, passion and thought in their publication notes the world would be a much better place. Thank you and well done.
Fred Schwarz lmao ur profile pic
dude im not sure about the entire world, i feel like global warming is a more pressing issue
RUclips would be a much better place - not sure about the rest of the world!!
Communism is good
@@orb3796 Absolutely. I mean except for the 100 million dead people, failed economies and prison states. But you've got to take the bad with the good.
Sublime. Each pianists' rendition is a totally new experience. Thanks for this!
Hayroudinoff is great, but it's Lugansky who makes me feeling addicted to this music. For me, Nikolai Lugansky is currently the best pianist in the world
Radim Tichý et tellement charmant humain
IMO he only does his best at playing Rachmaninoff's pieces
@@iliyajavadian few years later I have to agree.
@@geuros I've never thought a user who commented something 3 years ago would respond now omg
@@iliyajavadian :-)
I have a dream that one day I can play all the Rachmaninoff’s piano sonatas and etudes!
U better learn from the 8th etude of how to compose chinese/japanese/korean classical music! as well as from debussy and the number of other european masters of more modern era
i wanna learn all liszt etude one day before i die
@@fredericchopin6445 yep
These piano pieces are very emotional.
I like to listen to the second, "sea and seagulls", in perfect, silent darkness; the central part makes me think of a wounded bird whirling before crashing into the sea, but still fighting against an invisible enemy. The last notes are sublime.
The Days of Wrath is the third study, the end of which reminds me of a heart in agony that ends up fainting
Слушаю впервые. Потрясена...Благодарю исполнителей. Бесподобно, музыка пронзает насквозь. Благодарю создателей канала за эти записи.
This is one of the greatest works of art from start to finish, and without a doubt the greatest set of etudes written for the piano
What a sound, I love this set more than op.33 and played No. 9. It is great fun! PS: Anyone else who just melts at the D minor over E-flat at 34:11?
The No. 8 E-T is truly the most luxurious and dreamiest piece I've ever encountered. I would assume that award would go to Scriabin or Debussy, but Scriabin's say 8th sonata is more "ghostly" than dreamy, and Debussy is more "hazy" than dreamy. The colors just astound me every time.
Hayroudinoff no. 5 is giving me chills. Thanks for sharing this video!
Why is none talking about No. 8?!
What a gorgeous thing!
My favorite ❤
Same here
I really appreciate the work you do each time you upload a video. Listening to different interpretations of the same piece is a very enriching experience and I'd never heard of Hayroudinoff but the moment I discovered his playing of no 5 and 6 I fell in love with him. Thank you so much for your effort and beautiful descriptions :)
The greatest in the entire history of music.
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!! I've been...
So I've always been so frustrated by these Etudes, because they...I don't feel like I've been able to find good recordings of so many of them. LIke they seem like they have a ton of potential, but they're tough interpretive puzzles, and I've been just REALLY unhappy with so many of these. and *I* can't freaking control them well enough to make them sound like anything.
I haven't listened to them all, but the Hayroudinoff recording of 39 3 makes this whole thing worth it by itself!!
Thanks!!!
Love the left hand phrasing in 1:45, well done Lugansky!
I like it Rach etude op.39 no.1
It so mystic!
JoonSeo LEE Agreed bro)
luganskys perfomance on the second etude is pure lightness
How does one even compose music like this?? It makes so little sense to me yet it makes so much sense at the same time. Rachmaninoff truly was a unique composer and musical mind.
Rachmaninoff's late music was surely something else. It was a depart from the classic lyrical romantic style and he had matured fully as a composer. It's this stuff that you don't find elsewhere.
You sit on a piano for hours, waiting for your idea to come, while experimenting with what you already have. Then continue until you are able to string things together.
Returned to this today for meditation. Thank you much for such thoughtful notes. Everyone who loves Rachmaninov knows Lugansky, but Hayroudinoff is incredible and must look him up!
I am pretty ignorant to the nuances of classical music have never heard these etudes before. But Lugansky's playing on No 4 (especially the end) is so effortless, it feels without thought, and each note joins the next in such unison and feeling of connectedness, it's really amazing. Something about it resonates so strongly and I miss that feeling with other versions.
How do you it's Lugansky?
op.39 no.7 sounds like a wild dream
I dont know why but Im in love with hayourdinov's performance of etude no.3 its sounds very "harsh" and delicate at the same time
My piano teacher from Indiana recorded the entire Etude Tableaux, and I've practically memorized how the music is played by him for years, but it only took one listening to realize a better interpretation like on this video.
Great descriptions--thank you for teaching me something new about these incredible pieces. No. 8, especially Ruth Laredo's recording, is unsurpassed for me: the mystery, joy, and tragedy of our existence distilled into 3 minutes of aural sublimity.
0:25 Theee hardest double thirds configuration ever 🥲
It’s not that bad
2:09 is worse
@@lucajack007i never got that far 🙃
I think a tremendously underrated aspect/texture that R. utilizes (and uses more often as he ages, along with his other signature techniques like bells, marches, chants/chorales, and his famous heartwrenching melodies) is The Swirl (fast, "chittering", chromatic, jagged, "spiky", "almost atonal" swirls of notes that typically sweep up and down the piano. In the lower register, extremely dark and menacing; in the upper register, light, but still with a certain darkness, like dancing on hot coals). For example,
-Op. 39 No. 1 (the viciousness!!!)
-Op. 33 No. 5
-high register parts of Op. 39 No. 6, though it is interspersed with other things so it doesn't feel like a continuous swirl
-2nd movement of Sonata 2 climax (with E minor bells, and cascading sheets of the main "Fibonacci 1-1-2-3-5" motif, pouring down until it hits the very bottom of the keyboard, and then swirls back up into oblivion)
-beginning of 3rd movement coda in Sonata 2 (I commented in that video that those runs sounded like "ripping the notes out the keyboard")
-Variation 15 in Op. 43 Paganini Rhapsody
-Woodwinds in 2nd movement of Op. 45 Symphonic Dances
-Fast parts of 3rd movement of Op. 40 Piano Concerto 4
And perhaps some from earlier, though they feel a bit more "grounded"/"tonal":
-Op. 16 No. 2
-Op. 32 No. 6 (F minor prelude)
-Op. 23 No. 9 (Eb minor prelude)
-the fast C minor bit before the 2nd subject in 1st Movement of 2nd Piano Concerto
I contrast this with Op. 39 No. 3 which opens with fast and chittering high register notes, but those sound more like bells than Swirls. Though in the development/middle of Op. 39 No. 3 there are plenty of Swirls.
I am reminded of Chopin's 2nd sonata 4th movement, "chromatic moaning"/"winds whipping through gravestones".
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When I listen to Prokofiev, I am often blown away by his melodic and harmonic inventiveness (e.g. the melody evolves/leaps in a direction that I would never had had the imagination to take it, or the harmony changes in a way that is crazy on paper, but brilliant in the ear). Rachmaninoff's melodies are much more straightforward (more "motivic"), but it is in his Swirls that I again marvel at music and texture that I would never had had the imagination to create (that I didn't even know the piano could make, before I heard R.'s writing).
That's a really nice observation!
Lugansky's #7 has that spiritual quality of dynamism, intensity and and out of this world vibe.
One of the greatest sets of etudes ever from a musical perspective.
Definitely!!!
Can you upload your ave Maria when you finish it?
@@mitchell-bt3tj yes of course! I was just practicing some arpeggios to tack on to the end since im only learning the first half. Right now I'm also working on Chopin etude op 9 no.1, HR2 lassan, and the revolutionary etude.
@@JG_1998 nice
@@JG_1998 rn I’m working on Chopin ballade 3 and Liszt etude 10
@@mitchell-bt3tj damn you must be really good!
Rustem Hayroudinoff - diskovery and revelation! "something which I thought was impossible" - your truth! - Thank you!!!
Wow! Sofronitsky was truly an amazing pianist!
Hot damn, that opening movement is something out-of-this-world! I feel like I need to follow along at a quarter the speed just to comprehend whats going on at any given moment. Absolutely stunning performance.
Matthew Passage 00:55-1:10 is just awesome. It baffles me the harmonies he comes up with.
Rachmaninov has a great sense of counterpoint. What is your favorite Etude of this Op. 39? (write a comment below)
2 3:03 море и чайки
5 16:15 ми бемоль минор
6 21:31 волк и красная шапочка
7 24:16 до минор
Ооо спасибо
I have not yet heard a completely successful rendition of No. 7, I don't think neither of these two pianists understands the spirit of the piece in all its depth. For me studying this piece has been one of the most extraordinary experiences in life, it is a work that lets one (when thoroughly studying and playing it) into a truly otherworldly realm in a depth I have not met elsewhere in music (I don't mean there weren't other works that can do that too, surely there are some). A piece that can give you unique insights and change you.
For not a complete analysis but just a couple of remarks, Lugansky makes in the first part sforzandi that aren't written on the score and I don't understand them at all, there should not be such "shouting" (except for 26:04), that's nothing of the substance of the story being told there.
The whole section from _poco meno mosso_ (27:38) is commonly most misunderstood among interpreters in this piece and it is also by these two: Hayroudinoff, even more than Lugansky, thinks "OK, this where the étude begins" and takes it _'molto piú mosso'_ instead of what the score clearly tells. A totally unthinkable artistic choice. I think the challenge here is of course _not_ to play it fast (it isn't even hard to play fast at all) but to play it instead slowly, strivingly, languishingly, like a long, desperate wandering in the wilderness, lost and spiritually starving. (That is VERY hard to achieve pianistically.)
From there can rise a mighty and supernatural apotheosis and transfiguration (climbing to which starts at 30:19, stepping to a purely spiritual level at 30:29, "transfiguration" at 30:40). It just won't work with Lugansky's, let alone Hayroudninoff's tempo, eg. the chords at 30:29 are being just rushed through and they mean not much of anything, they won't "open the heavy gates to the heaven" of 30:40 (which is also rushed through!) so to say. The 30:40 part should feel like taking a look somewhere where a mortal being isn't allowed to go! It is not of this world.
Like the 30:40 part, already those 30:29 chords should feel irreal, shocking, in every way unbelievable and very powerful after the long pianissimo part. They won't do that if you haven't really been totally exhausted by this long, agonising "Dark Night of the Soul" wandering.
The job of the musician is always to make sense of the score and figure out which big picture to paint out of it, ie. what is the story that the composer has wanted to tell. The Op. 39/7 is so strange and one of its kind that it's maybe not surprising that it is rarely understood, maybe as it is thought of as an étude and typically played too fast. What it asks artistically and spiritually is as demanding as anything can be in the piano repertoire, it asks one to dive unbelievably deeply into its realm in order to construct it appropriately, highlight the right things and really make the story work.
And the answer, how to make sense of this music is not to try to make it easier or more comfortable to listen to in any way. It should be a shocking and exhausting and only in a very excruciating way rewarding experience to listen to this piece. Nothing of an easy listening. And no purely enjoying the musical content or "empowering oneself" but investigating one's spiritual inner and contemplating the sacred. (I would very rarely use this expression but I think, here it is appropriate.)
Lugansky understands the architecture quite well per se, but he is still hasting and doesn't take the time to make all necessary arguments meaningfully, so I just don't believe what he's saying. There's unnecessary anger, the "wandering" part isn't meaningful, the apotheosis isn't credible and thus the slowly fading and shriveling ending (as the "gates of heaven" close again) can't be truly abysmal, as it should, either. Of Hayroudinoff nothing much better to say, only the first part I liked better at times.
Why do you think so?
tank you so much for uploding and your description of the music.
Восхитительное исполнение шикарных, сложнейших этюдов Рахманинова. Браво!
Briliant! Both two interpretion of 39-1 are wonderful, but in my taste Lugansky's rachmaninoff always have special power to attract my ears!
Unglaublich die drei Interpreten und die Musik.In Russland auf dem Dorf damals.DAS SIND DIE KLÄNGE,die Rachmaninov im Dorf u. auf dem Land zu hören bekam.Absolut schön.
Thanks for your commentary, so valuable for young pianists
Listening in nighttime, fantastic! On Scriabin comments, Rach and Scriabin were music classmates. When Scriabin died (strangely due to infected sore of lip!), Rach traveled around Russia performing Scriabin's compositions to raise money for his widow and children.
When Ashish says Lugansky handles the climax on no 7 really well whst he really means is Lugansky stopped playing and became the music for a moment because that was a freaky climax.
You're awesome.
i love sofronitsky's interpretation, he is bringing up the unheard parts
Thank you so much, those recordings are truly outstanding !
Some parts of no.3 reminded me of Scriabin's 4th sonata and something of middle- and late-Scriabin's style in general (rugged rythms, descending staccato arpegios in left hand). Hayroudinoff makes it incredibly well, this is the first rendition I totally like. But Lugansky's tempo is much more allegro molto. It would be interesting to hear Sofronitsky play this one, he could hold both tempo of Lugansky and clarity and melodiousness of Hayroudinoff I believe.
About no.6 - there is an outstanding on my opinion performance of it by Natalie Schwamova here on youtube.
Ein Heiliger, auch einer der Edele Und Grosse Seelen...
Something I will note - I first really began to love this set a couple months ago, and wasn't really grabbed by the Sofronitsky recordings. I came back today to try them, and now I understand why you love them so much. MAybe it's just me, but I had to listen to the pieces many times before I could appreciate the mastery he displays. Thanks as always, your work is much appreciated!
Etude no. 8 invokes a cold, modern and surreal feeling to me that stands out from the rest, hence why it’s my absolute favourite short piece of Rachmaninoff and of any composer (the climax and the later scherzando section are just captivating). Just wondering, does anyone know of any pieces that are similar in tone to this one?
It's so unique nothing comes close
Scriabin
I’d recommend Rachmaninoff’s Op. 32 No. 2 and Op. 33 No. 4 - both have that same kind of cold, wintery quality with cool harmonies to them! And then I’d also recommend Chopin’s G Major Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 2, which I think inspired Rachmaninoff a great deal for these pieces (particularly in the harmonic turns, like the parallel major/minor move he uses a few times)
Nikolai Lugansky is easily my favourite prodigy, his takes on Rachmaninoff are just excelent (I also like Emil Gilels). Rachmaninoff was the reason I got back to playing piano after 7 years of inactivity (I stopped playing the piano, when I was 15, because I finally could. I hated the instrument, I was forced to play it.). I've grown up a bit mentally and discovered the beauty of the world of the classical music and especially the one of the big-handed fella. :)) Opening the piano's keyboard dust cover was just the next logical step.
I just started learning 39/1, I guess I will not be able to ever play it, but I certainly won't give up. So far I've been able to learn to play the Moment Musicaux 16/4, Preludes 23/5, 23/7 and 3/2, Etude Tableux 33/5(4) and Elegie 3/1. Of course, my takes on those pieces are flawed, especially compared to Lugansky, but whatever, I'm a chemical engineer, not a professional piano player and do not have any mentor. This piece is much more difficult, but It always is satisfying to make some progress, to find out how to play some seemingly impossible part due to the need to use another approach, that makes things easier. Sometimes I play the pianoes at the streets. A smile always conjures up on my face, when people like it and ask me, who the compositor is (even more, when it's my own composition, or my arrangement of someone else's work).
By the way, sir, I love your descriptions. :-)
It’s easy to be a chemical engineer
, this is by far unreachable ! No point consoling yourself if you want to attain this level of expression.
I’m an electronics 20:32 major / economics major but I practise like mad to be better :)
Yes indeed, No.2 has the Dies Irae in the bass. A very esoteric musical theme used much by Franz Liszt and again in the 2.nd symphony by Rachmaninoff. Probably the most esoteric and spiritual theme in all music. There is a music thesis in the net regarding this theme and the story is fascinating. Please do google it. in the Verdi requiem also.
Ron Walker Let's not forget that he uses it as the basis of the 3rd Piano Concerto as the first theme in the first movement.
Etude Tableau no. 7 is said to have been inspired by Scriabin's funeral, which Rachmaninoff attended.
According to Rakh: it is a funeral procession (bars 1-23), accompanied by songs (bars 24-32); it starts to rain (bars 39-69), then a church is heard (bars 70-102). The idea of death therefore dominates this work.
Omg no 5, 6❤ beyond incredible!
Among all the best classical content inside all the youtube! Congrats!!
I learned the no. 3 for entering Conservatory of Paris... nice memories :)
29:31 I can not even. chills
This music was composed during WWI. I think it's edifying to think of it as expressing much of the horror of that war.
Not only that but these etudes were written during 1917 times, and as you know those times were very harsh for Russia, protests, revolutions, civil war, dethroned Nicholas II… and Rachmaninov had enough and left Russia. These etudes were the last one he wrote in Russia, and in my opinion they represent all of the turmoil and bustle that happened during those times, and how the composer felt.
the change of tone at 10:48 is so good
Thank you for introducing me this masterpiece.
I used to hate the opus 39 ; I had a listening passion that I couldn't change into a playing one, even at an advanced age. Now I have forgotten this period and miss the hate and the illusion. I even wanted to compose like R when I was 15. I am disappointed by life, or music. So many works are not a part of me, they just promise to be an opportunity to have something :'-(
Well, it's true you'll never learn it all, no one could. Part of the problem for me when it comes to listening transforming to learning is that new pieces get absolutely mangled in the attempt. It can take a long time to learn a piece, but even if it does, and you learn just one etude, a favourite of the set, that's better than nothing. Years ago, I could not have learned the two pieces I'm working on now. I always love them, and daydreamed while listening that it would be me playing them like that some day. Well, who knows. It still might. Even if it's only for myself. Don't give up or sell yourself short.
ive spent 15 years just learning 5 and 8. i am close though. another year i think.
We live in different times from the great composers, emphasis is not on beauty and art but on money. We need to find balance before it's too late. I love Leonard Cohen, his song "Everybody Knows" states our human quandary perfectly.
This is eternal beauty!
Great playing. Thank you.
I will definetly learn the first one.
#7 is so mesmerizing starting 27:38
#7 is so underrated and never performed live...
Incredible mastery and mystery Rachmaninoff had! Number 5 is wonderful especially but all are beautiful.
Much agree with Ashish, #6 by Sofronitsky best for "Little Red Riding Hood" I've ever heard!
this music enriches the soul ,
NO ONE comes close to the interpretation of No 6 than Lugansky, crisp clean and tells a story absolutely musicality first followed by amazing virtuosity.
Beautiful playing. Thank you. Extra- ordinary. !!!!!! Well recorded, as well. And, thank you all!!! Moi
You're really not kidding about the buildup in #9 -- I was listening to this in the background and had to check what I was listening to. Absolutely massive.
Simply extraordinary and all encompassing imagination.
It's frightening that anybody can actually play these pieces !!
Lol. That's a great way of putting it.
The middle section of No. 5 is demonic!
No. 6 is a wild ride too. Little Red Riding Hood!
Yeah, that one is downright disturbing.
Yeah. It's amazing!!
The first Etude of this set is so unbelievably scary. Describing it as unhinged is spot on.
That one and no. 7 really give me some dark images. No. 7 just utilizes that dark and dissonant harmony really well.
While he had large hands, a lot of his music was meant to be played right and together. His music had a lot of chromatic scales because although he liked them, he had trouble playing them because of his large hands. It was almost like he used his compositions as a way to practice and get better
God I LOVE Lugansky's interpretation of the 1st etude!!!
9:00 is beautiful
The way the satisfying blaze of No. 3 gives way to the No. 4’s gallivanting irks me. I love both but that particular shift in tone just makes me huff. Has anyone else felt this?
No. 3 in f sharp minor by far my all time favorite :)
Lugansky the best, and he was 19 years old in this record.
Fernando Maria Cavaller How you know about that?
@@Ar1osssa He doesnt
Number 1 sounds absolutely seething. When not in all out rage mode, it seethes, a person just boiling over inside, about to erupt at something. Unable to vent, the midsection being milder is tears of rage. Eventually those are spent, but the rage is still there, until the terrifying end of this etude. I love it! Number 3 sounds more alarm bell than angry to me. Like someone on the alert and warning others of some impending danger. Number 5 is good and menacing, though IMO it seems to set up a scene of some kind rather than convey an emotion.
Miss Capri completely agree with your interpretation of no.1. A constant state of agitation and anger
24:16 Этюды-картины: op. 39: № 7 c-moll, Lento lugubre (подробно).
Beautifully
Beautiful!
Your description is so well written that you are now cited as a reference in the wikipedia article for these pieces en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tudes-Tableaux,_Op._39
Lol most of the sentences in the article are completely the same as in the discription
That's awesome
lmao comg
He stole it from wikipedia
@@nikolai5012 ????????????????? lmao no someone pasted HIS descriptions into wikipedia