Having played the piece my self, I can truly appreciate the level of detail and effort put into the video. Also, the performance is breathtaking... The dynamics, melody, punctuation all with clarity and grace. Bravo!!!
Oh, how wonderful to read your thoughtful and meaningful words, ... thank you! I really appreciate you commenting on the details and effort that went into the lesson, and also for your generous words about the performance. It is true that when we play a piece, we have another level of understanding about the myriad of small yet important details! "The joy is in the detail!" I wish you the very best with your playing and your musical journey!
This is so useful to the amateur piano hobbyist. The breakdown of the piece into pieces that must each be learned well, promises many hours of happy practice. What is somewhat under control now, will be better in a year. What is beyond me now, may well be grasped in time. Practice the hardest parts until they become the easiest parts. Enjoyed every bit of this terrific lesson and performance, thank you Sally Christian
Hello John, thank you so much for your kind and wonderful words about this lesson and performance! I really appreciate hearing that the breakdown of the piece will be helpful as you practice and learn the piece by sections. Yes, practice the hardest parts until they are the easiest! 😊 Best wishes to you, and may you have many happy and joyful hours of practice! 🎹🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic Thank you as well, and as regards the pleasure of the habit of practice, once you have acquired it, it’s a positive difficulty to give it up. We see the score, and you, and me, and Yuja Wang, and the blackbird, and Rachmaninov, are all one.
This was one of my favorite pieces to learn back in high school. Quite an effective piece, yet still technically accessible compared to most of Rachmaninov's works. I'll definitely give this a revisit.
Hello legendofcha, yes, definitely give this one a revisit! There is nothing more wonderful than to go back to an "old friend" of music and get reaquainted. I agree that compared to most of Rachmaninoff, this prelude is technically quite accessible, and also very enjoyable to play. Best wishes to you and with your playing.
This used to be my signature piece as a child and I am now drawn to the great B minor that I am working on. I didn't want to even listen to this because it brings up the issues of I never thought I ever played it well enough except that people used to say I played this well. This is a hard piece and I love these videos so I watched the entire clip. My piano teacher was a colleague of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in Italy and my family had musical talent from both sides so I was very heavily criticized and decided on another path. During these unprecedented times I made it a goal to be successful working from home and indeed music is also that sanctuary for me too. I have my dogs and I have my work and I help people as well, but great music is the real awakening and you are truly the Brava Maestra Pianista! Thank you for this explanation of this masterpiece. I will go back to it when I have finished learning the great B minor of Rachmaninoff which is also difficult, I think maybe more difficult than this piece. I find Rachmaninoff's music astounding and I too am sometimes in awe of these compositions. What a great gift amidst all of our present global ambiguity that we can retreat in our homes and learn music.... Cordially, Catherine
Dear Catherine, I am deeply touched by your profound comment. Thank you very much for your wonderful words about this lesson. Yes, great music is the real awakening! I completely resonated with your words about a piece bringing up unresolved issues from our past. I also had a similar experience with a piece when I was in my early twenties. When we are in our younger years, the adults in our lives in positions of power have the ability to shape our experiences positively and encourage us, or do the opposite and discourage us. My experience with the latter involved playing a piano concerto that involved days of rehearsing. By the time the performance arrived, my “interpretation” had been radically changed by another’s will, and had become an empty shell of what it had previously been for me. It took another 15 years before I could even hear that piece again so traumatic was the experience. Years later, I had the opportunity to perform it again, this time with a very sensitive, supportive, and like-minded conductor. I was able to fall in love with the piece again. I say this to you and to others who may have soured on a piece or on the art form for various reasons. When we do get a second chance to “right the wrong,” it is a true gift and blessing. I think you will have your healing experience now with this C# minor Prelude. It is a worthy piece, and you are worthy and deserving to claim this piece once again as your signature piece, and play it with joy and feelings of confidence. Thank you for sharing your experience of this, and also for sharing how life has become for you in our present challenges of dealing with Covid 19. I wish you the very best with this piece and the Great B minor Prelude as well!
"It's grand, and maybe a little ominous" I can only interpret your words as exactly the opposite of hyperbole! This majestic piece and in particular your virtuosity Sally is assured only to bring your listeners nearer and nearer to the Genius whom was Sergei Rachmaninoff! God yield you a blessing.
Hello Johannes, thank you for your beautiful, powerful, and thought-provoking words! You are so right; Rachmaninoff was a Genius, and we are blessed to have the majestic music he gave to the world. :-) Thank you also for your generous words about my playing. It has been a privilege to dedicate my life to this extraordinary art form. I wish you all the best, and a life graced through music!
You ARE our teacher from afar. I have never experienced the intricacies of this piece the way I did when I watched this video. I think there might be one final reference to the “dies irae” in the middle voice as the right hand plays the final few bars. (A, G#, A, F# - 7 measures from the end) I cannot express the real depth of my gratitude for you, your work, and the amazing music you share with all of us. I wish you, your family, your neighbors, and everyone a beautiful and safe holiday season.
Hello Musicalintentions / James, thank you so much for your wonderful and heartfelt words! This lesson and chart was a particularly labor intensive project, and took many years to complete. I am therefore especially touched and grateful for everything you have said.
Hello Sally - thank you for the tutorial. We were both in the music department of FSU around in the early '70s under the tutelage of Mr. Philip Lorenz. Good memories. Anyway, you went on to become the consummate professional, while I sadly did without a piano for over 40 years. I picked it back up about 10 years ago. I was able to learn the C# minor prelude, but have a ways to go before I get to your level. Anyway, I am elated that you stayed with our beloved art for all these years. I wish you personal good luck and good health. You are my inspiration.
Hello Sonia, what a wonderful surprise to hear from you and read your beautiful comment! Thank you for your very dear and appreciated acknowledgements about my life-long path with the piano. Those early college years with Philip at CSUF were amazing. He gave us such a great foundation as well as a reverence for the art form. I often think of Philip and his teacher, Arrau, and am forever grateful for the sacred legacy they gave us. 🙏 I'm so happy you have returned to the piano and are playing this Rachmaninoff Prelude! I would love to know what other pieces you are playing now. I wish you good health, personal abundance, and a fulfilling musical journey with the piano! 💖😇
@@SallyChristianMusic Hello Sally - I am deeply honored that you were able to reply. I have to tell you, when we were at CSUF, I had heard you play several times, and I always knew you were a cut above all of us. I remember one recital - you were in a beautiful blue gown - Mr. Lorenz by your side. You looked either nervous or "in the zone" - I couldn't tell which, but you gave a spectacular recital - concert pianist quality. These days, now that I am serious about the piano again, I do regret not having stuck with it, if even on a superficial level. I regret that I didn't learn more about technique, expression, dynamics, and everything that makes a performance great. I will study your tutorial very closely, and resurrect the Prelude. I am also in the middle of learning Elegy, and have also played Vocalise - my favorite Rachmaninoff. Of course, there is Schubert and Chopin. I love the D-Flat Nocturne, but shied away from the "filigree" toward the end of the piece, so I have never performed it for my piano groups. I live in the San Diego area, and if you are ever in the neck of the woods to give a concert, I would love to attend, and bring some of my closest piano friends. May you continue to be blessed with your great appreciation for our artistic form. I am thankful that I have returned to it. '💝🎼🌺😘
@@soniaborden9717 Hi Sonia, thank you for mentioning these wonderful memories! I love hearing about the recital, the blue dress, and Philip standing by my side. 💕I really appreciate your kindness and generosity in sharing these precious times. 🙏 I'm so happy to hear you are working on the Chopin Db Nocturne and the Rachmaninoff Elegy and the Vocalise. Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers. I'm currently working on some of the Opus 23 Preludes and also reviewing the Opus 32 Preludes. I hope this tutorial helps, especially with the recapitulation which can be hard to follow in the music with all the big jumps and clef changes. I'm glad to know you live in the San Diego area. BTW: You can contact me at SallyChristianMusic@gmail.com to continue our conversation if you like. Sending blessings and all best wishes to you and with your music! 🎹💝
There are no words. I heard the Bosendorfer's thunder and then I saw smoke. I am so glad you constructed the Addendum. I can read it! Thank you a million, Sally. You have out done yourself on this one. I am exhausted! Thank You!
Hello Roger, I am so moved by your sincere and powerful words! Thank you as well for your acknowledgement about the Addendum. I hope it will help to navigate through the mass of notes that are often so difficult to read in the beginning. It was exhausting for me to complete this lesson and chart package, but it was also a true labor of love.
A beautiful, dramatic piece, of course, beautifully played. I feel like I lost a piece of my soul by not learning to play as a child. Works like this one, and especially Chopin's works, penetrate my soul through. Thank you very much Lady Sally 🌻
Hello Robert, thank you for your wonderful words! I feel the same way about Rachmaninoff and Chopin speaking to us instantly on a soul level. Listening to these amazing works not only uplifts us emotionally, but alters us on a cellular level. Very best wishes to you. :-)
I bought the chart for this piece and I got very happy. The variety and amount of information on the 5 pdf's are unbelievable, besides some pages have colors and they are also very beautiful. Thank you very much for this amazing class Teacher!
Hello André, I am so thrilled to read your wonderful words about the tutorial and the chart package you just purchased! Thank you very much for letting me know you are so happy with the 5 pdfs and the colors I used on the vertical and horizontal Color Structural Analyses. These are a great amount of work to formulate and produce. Your enthusiastic responses mean so much to me and are music to my ears! 🙏 I wish you all the best on your musical journey and with your playing of this beloved piece! 🎵
Thank you Sally for this magnificent tutorial and gorgeous performance. It has been a very long time since I've looked at this piece. I experienced so many ah ha moments during your presentation. The Dies Irae! I love the way the voices are taken apart It now makes me wonder how anyone can truly learn a piece without doing that. I have found your charts to be invaluable in memorizing pieces. I look forward to having a new experience with the beautiful color coded chart. Gina
Dear Gina, oh wow, thank you for your thoughtful and very appreciated words about this performance and lesson! You are so kind to mention things in the lesson that have particular meaning for you. I thought it made sense to say that those passages were a nod to the "Dies Irae,” and I'm glad you agree! I'm finding more and more how essential it is to take apart all the voices as separate horizontal lines and study them as stand-alone parts. Then when we put it all back together as written, we can actually hear them and decide which ones we want to bring out in the moment! This chart was really a labor of love; I hope you enjoy working from it!
Sally, wow, this is a superb performance and teaching. I enjoyed the tolling bells and their echoes. Your analyzing gives me a deeper understanding of the piece. I am not ready to tackle it yet, but something to look forward to. The charts are a big help.
Hello Ingrid! It is a joy to hear from you, and thank you so much for your beautiful words! I encourage you to try this piece some time in the future. Little by little, your fingers and ears will learn the patterns, and you will have another "friend for life!" With my very best wishes to you! :-)
Thank you Sally, sometime in the future and with your helpful charts and outstanding video teaching, I will learn this amazing piece--a friend for life. Fondly Ingrid
Hello Michael, thank you for your wonderful words about this performance. I hope that you will stay with your piano studies, and that someday you will play this magnificent prelude! Anything is possible, one step at a time. :-) Best wishes to you.
I just love this piece but have been terrified at the thought of attempting to play it (I consider myself lower/intermediate level). Your unique approach to the charts has hooked me though and I just downloaded them. I will have them printed properly and dig in. Thanks for making this so reachable and understandable. Your interpretation (both playing and verbal descriptions) are inspiring. You know how to communicate and I hope you teach many and often, it is a gift to be able to bring this to people.
Hello John, thank you so much for your wonderful and generous words about the lesson, the verbal descriptions, and the playing! I'm happy to hear how much you love this piece, and am delighted that you downloaded your chart pdfs and will soon be working from them. Making these charts is a labor of love, and your beautiful acknowledgements mean a great deal to me. Thank you also for your encouragement to continue with this work. 🙏 With very best wishes to you and with your playing! 🎵
Welllll let me stick to my level for a moment. Just bought your JSB minuet in G major. But boy what a treat is this tutorial even for a beginner like me, thank you so much for sharing.
Hello John, thank you for your kind and enthusiastic words about this tutorial! I'm so happy you enjoyed watching it, even though it is an early advanced level piece. Thank you also for your order for the Bach Minuet in G New Layout Chart. This is a wonderful piece for the early level student. I wish you all the best as you learn it, and progress little by little to the more advanced pieces. Perhaps one day you will play this beloved Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor! 🎵
You are an excellent teacher! Thank you for all the time and effort you dedicate to teaching a musical piece at a masterful level, melodic line, technique, details of each articulation that you teach.... leaves me speechless ...each step by step is wonderful as you teach it, 1:12:36 I have seen the whole video, I bought the scores, ( excellent pedagogically) I want to thank you for sharing your masterful knowledge with many of us, students, teachers across the world, who love music and want to continue growing. I hope to improve the interpretation with all your knowledge, Thanks sally!
Hello Estephania, I am so touched to read your beautiful comment about this tutorial! Thank you for letting me know it was helpful on all of the levels you describe. 🙏 Making the charts and teaching videos are labors of love. Your generous words mean a great deal to me, and encourage me to continue with this work. I wish you much joy and inspiration as you shape your interpretation of this piece. With best wishes to you and your students! 🎵🦋
Ive only been playing paino for half a year and im learning this piece, and i can see just how much emotion this piece has, i only have a keyboard so its a bit hard to learn dynamics and punctuality right and ive had a hard time learning the Agitato section (im only a page and a half into this piece), this has been immensely helpful. Thank you.
Hello justtom4179, thank you for your very kind words about this tutorial. I appreciate knowing that it has been so helpful. 🙏 I wish you all the best learning this piece, and much success with your continuing piano studies! 🎹
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, this prelude is one of Rachmaninoff's most popular pieces. There's something about the "darkness" that took the world by storm! Best wishes to you. 🎵
Thank you for sharing, I love the story behind this piece and it's amazing that he wrote it when he was only 19... I tried to play this piece but I gave up cause my right hand is too small for the octaves 😂
Hello Hinnn, thank you for your kind words about the video. You are welcome, it is my pleasure. I'm glad you liked hearing the story behind this piece. I was also amazed that he wrote it at age 19. 🎉 Best wishes to you.
Thank you for this! I just scooped it up from your shop. I have the Schirmer performance edition of this already, but it's just so dense on the page. I will definitely benefit from your presentation of this masterwork.
Hello Charles, thank you for your very appreciated words! I am so happy that you ordered your chart, and can now see how much easier it is to read the last dense section of the recapitulation from the Addendum I made. It helped me tremendously to accurately track and memorize the full chordal combinations for each hand seeing it this way on the page! I wish you many wonderful hours as you learn and memorize this masterpiece! :-)
Hello Hui, what a beautiful comment you have written, ... thank you so much! I really appreciate your thoughtful and acknowledging words about the tones, articulation, and the interpretation! Very best wishes to you. :-)
Hello LC7 Smith, thank you for your sweet and dear message! I can feel the genuine love in your words, and I am very grateful. :-) With many best wishes to you!
Hello Old Tinho, thank you for your wonderful words about the Bösendorfer chiming the bells for Rachmaninoff! I completely agree. It is a thrill to produce and hear such glorious sounds coming from this magnificent 9 1/2 foot instrument! Thank you also for your poetically descriptive and complimentary words about the playing! Best wishes to you. :-)
Hello Johny, thank you so much for your wonderful words about the playing. :-) I really appreciate hearing that you are following my channel and enjoying the videos! Best wishes to you.
Hello Luis, how wonderful to read your words so overflowing with energy and enthusiasm! Seeing your beautiful bold letters and exclamation marks puts a big smile on my face. :-)) Thank you for your generosity, and all best wishes to you!
Hello Some Mango, thank you for your generous and kind words. I appreciate you saying that the lesson "has given justice" to this beautiful piece! 🎶 Best wishes to you.
Hello Sina, thank you so much for your wonderful words! I am very happy to hear that you are enjoying and learning from the videos! Happy New Year 2021 to you, and all best wishes with your music!
@@SallyChristianMusic I have to say though that the cadenza sounds nothing like Rachmaninoff intended it to be played or how he recorded it. Have you heard his original recording of the Prelude? And is not only you but everyone else I have heard. I don't know if it is left to anyone interpretation but I think Rachmaninoff has a clear view of how he wanted it to be played because he is playing it himself and it sounds different.
@@minoracademy Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor comment July 9, 2021 Hello Minor Academy, thank you for your question about Rachmaninoff’s recording of his Prelude in C# minor and the cadenza. Yes, I have heard it. It is my experience that a composer’s recordings of the same piece will vary, especially with a work that they played over many decades. You can compare the recordings of Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid and hear completely different approaches to this same work he wrote. Rachmaninoff’s playing of the cadenza in the recording I heard is extremely fast, as is the case with his playing in many of his other recordings. Is this the difference you are hearing? You will find other people who will agree with you that if the composer played it this way, then that is the only correct way to play it. I do not see it this way, nor do the many other pianists you have heard playing this piece. To me, the cadenza is more beautiful if played a little more slowly so we can hear clearly all of the exquisite harmonic changes, rather than as one blurred rapid-fire passage. Interpretations are a matter of personal choice and preference. While keeping faithful to the markings in the music, there will invariably be differences from pianist to pianist in the performance of any piece.
@@SallyChristianMusic that's my 10 year old son practicing the agitato and cadenza of the Prelude in C sharp minor. Any thoughts or your insight will be much appreciated. ruclips.net/user/shortsVuKEa89G1x4?feature=share
@@minoracademy Hello Minor Acacemy, thank you for sending the video of your son playing the Agitato and Cadenza sections of the piece. He is doing a good job and plays with musical expressiveness. There is one place in the Cadenza that can be confusing for students if they are not counting correctly. In the Cadenza, measures 41 & 42, there is a pattern of alternating right and left hand chords. Beginning on the downbeat of measure 41, there are FOUR groups altogether, (each group has 2 triplets) and begins with the right hand playing note F# on the top note of the chords of every other triplet. These occur on beats 1 & 3. Your son is adding one more group and is playing FIVE groups instead of four groups. Please watch the video at 50:05 to see me showing the Color Structural Analysis at this section. You will see four letter F# that I have written above these four groups to help the student easily see and play the correct number of groups. This Color Structural Analysis pdf is extremely helpful to easily see other structural details like this, which is why I make and include them in the lesson and in the chart package. I hope this helps your son!
Dear Joshua, I am really happy to see your enthusiastic words and responses to this video! The tutorial, performance, and chart package took a very long time to make, and I was also pleased with the finished results. Thank you so much for letting me know you really liked this one! 💌 You are a very kind and thoughtful person. I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season, and a great 2022!
I'm learning this piece now for a competition and this video has been very helpful. Wonderful performance of the piece as well! Thanks so much for your hard work.
Hello Paul, thank you very much for your kind a much appreciated words! These videos and charts are labors of love, and your warm acknowledgement means a great deal to me. You are welcome, it is my pleasure. 🎵I wish you all the best with your playing and may you have an enjoyable competition experience as well!
Hello Yohan, thank you so much for your warm and enthusiastic words! I really appreciate hearing that the lesson was exciting and revealed the philosophy behind the piece! 💕 With best wishes to you. 🎵
Not "the Cadillac" of Rachmaninov preludes, but the most-famous of the 24 he has written. The C-sharp minor. You hear the clear musical form in this prelude - Intro, A section, B section, A section, and Coda. The B section is the agitated section with 2 climaxes---the second one being much more dramatic. The A section reprise is classic Rachmaninov - grand chords, big octaves. It is like Rachmaninov was doing a "2-piano-4 hands" effect in that texture, and definitely orchestral-like--the "tutti" here. The coda ends the loudness and greatness once and for all - into calmness and introspection. Sally had also mentioned that this prelude was the big setup for the Db major prelude, which uses some of the themes of the C-sharp minor one. So Rachmaninov was probably obsessed with "cyclic form" here. Just like he did in the 2nd and 3rd piano concerti of his.
Hello Brad, thank you for your wonderful words about the lesson and the chart layout of the piece. I hope these will help you as you learn this fantastic piece! Very best wishes to you.
Thank you so much! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. I really appreciate hearing that the Addendum was helpful. 💕 Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
Last page has to be memorized! I'm not a good memorizer. And this is hell for a reader. But then the 12 lr, same, almost! Magic how sinple it is acually! This I can memorize! Addendum! ❤
@@per174 Hello per174, thank you so much for your second and very appreciated comment! I'm so happy that this Addendum for the difficult recapitulation section has made it easy for you to read and memorize the music. When I made this Addendum, I was also thrilled to see the music magically "come into focus." With this reformatting showing the two elements pulled apart, it makes it so much easier to read, hear, play, and track! 🎉 With continuing best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
Rachmaninoff detested having to play this piece as an encore at most of his concerts...it was his most requested piece...he hated having to play it so much...familiarity breeds contempt!
Wow ! very powerful and packed with energy. and sensitivity.. Sally, thank you very much for this tutorial, I have a slightly unrelated question ...I am working on Chopins, Nocturne no.48 op 1 and I could have sworn I had watched your video on this piece ...please tell me I did not just dream this and that this video exists because I cannot find it anywhere, in the video I believe you had talked about replacing your Steinway with your current piano.
Hello Steve, thank you for your wonderful and very appreciated words about this lesson! I am sorry to say that I have not made a video of the majestic and powerful Chopin Nocturne in C minor, Opus 48, No. 1. I adore this piece, and have always wanted to finish learning it. Thank you for your suggestion for a lesson on this piece, which I will strongly consider for the future. In the meantime, I wish you all the best with your playing of this magnificent nocturne! 🌟🎵
Fantastic analysis! Thank you so much! Really like your smart organized and stacking of the scores. Think I'll try set up something similar myself. :) Question: Pedaling in the last rich ending page. When do you change?
Hello Per174, thank you so much for your kind words about this analysis and the New Layout Charts! Regarding the pedaling on the last page measure 45 - 52, I change the pedal on every left hand downbeat chord and on the beats 3 & 4 octaves. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you playing this wonderful piece! 🎶
Yes, thought so. Thanks again. Guess I'll stay using this video for a while, with your scores. Really helpful! ❤ Need to find a decent printer, Ipad too small. 😂
@@per174 You are welcome! I'm also very happy to see that you ordered the chart for this piece. Thank you for letting me know how how helpful the chart pdfs are! FYI: I always go to a print shop like Staples to have my large 11 X 17 size sheets printed on heavy 60 pound cardstock. Best wishes to you with your practicing and mastering of this piece! 🎶
Hello. I love this video it gave me the confidence to learn this prelude Could you please do a video on Chopin's Revolutionary Etude in C Minor if you have the time. Thanks
Hello Drew, thank you so much for your wonderful words! I really appreciate hearing that the tutorial has given you the confidence to learn this piece! I will add the Chopin Revolutionary Etude to my queue of future videos I would like to make. Best wishes to you and with your music! 🎵
Will you ever make more videos about Chopin’s Preludes? I was just watching your video from several years ago on No. 8 in F# minor. I’d love to see a video on No. 1 in C or No. 11 in B. Those are my two favorites
Hello Benjamin, thank you for your request for more Chopin Prelude teaching videos. I do love these pieces, and have added your suggestions to my ever-expanding queue of future videos I hope to be able to complete. Best wishes to you.
Hello Samaritan, thank you for the great suggestion! I adore Scriabin's 7th Sonata, and know it very well. It was the opening piece on my CSUF Masters Degree Recital Program many years ago. What a thrill it would be to bring it back again. :-) Best wishes to you.
One thing that interests me as someone learning the piece, the manuscript says the initial part is ppp but I see a lot of people playing this part quite loud, I'm not really sure if I should be playing it loud or very softly.
Hello bleesev2, thank you for your question. The opening introductory three octaves, notes A, G#, & C# are marked fff. Immediately after this, Theme I begins and is marked ppp with occasional swells to mf. The overall sound for this Theme I section should be very soft. After the Development Section, the introductory and Theme I material is heard again beginning in measure 43. Everything has transformed and has become huge with dynamic markings of fff & ffff. Best wishes to you and with your playing of this magnificent prelude. 🎶
Hi, Sally! I have question on pedaling the middle section. You indicate change on evry beat the entire section . I have an edition where the first two bars have pedal only on the one (same when that repeats en octave higher). Rest of bars hav pedal on beat 1 and 3, 2 and 4 no pedal. Maybe it's to help with phrasing? It is hard to relearn with this pedalsystem. What do you think?
@SallyChristianMusic I like your version best. Bit difficult this 1 and 3 pedal, but it may work. Trying it out, slow, a little confused where to go. 😂
Hello per174, you ask a very good question about the pedaling. This is really a matter of personal preference. Either way will work as long as the playing is clean, even, and creates a sense of surging agitation. The speed you are playing, the brightness of the piano, and the size and acoustics of the room will also influence the amount of pedal you might want to use. Listen to these variables as well as to the feel and the character of the music to decide which pedaling sounds best to you. I hope this helps!
@@SallyChristianMusic yes it is the agitiation you want. Easy to fall out on the last crazy desceting sequence. Maybe pedal 1 and 3, up on 2 and 3 helps keeping track. Easy to fall out there. 😀 Trying it out. Thanks a lot, Sally! 🙏
Your sincere fan misses more advice on technical issues viz fingering, the 4-5 in both hands. Anyway rainy days are great for when you want to practice LOUD cheers j
Referring to around 1:20:45 Measure 51 doesn't seem to add up mathematically. It seems like it requires an extra quaver to drop down and hit the bass chord?
Hello Charles, there are no missing quavers in measure 51. This measure is correctly notated with the full 4 beats of 8 quavers / eighth notes. The extra bass note you are hearing in the lesson belongs to the next measure 52. In the lesson at the spot you mention, I show how to count this and play it so the tempo is broadened. The continuity of the pulse is bent, but not broken. This is difficult to do smoothly as both hands move from low to high chords on the first beat downbeat, and it must be as seamless as possible with no pauses in the rhythm.
Hello John, I am happy to help you get the chart you had meant to order. Please email me at SallyChristianMusic@gmail.com so we can communicate directly and successfully complete your order. 🎶
Hello Tino, thank you for your question, which other readers may also have questions about. Here is my explanation: If you play the hands alone in this section, you will see that each hand plays an octave with an additional note in the middle. There are no other fingerings to use other than fingers 1 & 5 to play these octaves. Rachmaninoff has written a very beautiful descending passage of parallel thirds with these octaves which we need to hear and bring out. You do not have to overlap the thumbs, but I found it more awkward if I did not. By overlapping the thumbs, it actually becomes easier to play smoothly as you negotiate the different patterns of black keys. I hope this makes sense, and best wishes to you.
Hello Craig, it's nice to hear from you again. Rachmaninoff loved the minor tonalities, and favored using them over the major keys for the most part. In my youth, especially, I also preferred the minor tonalities. I found them comforting, powerful, soulful, and very beautiful. Perhaps you feel a similar resonance. I hope this finds you well, and stay safe during these Covid times. Best wishes to you.
Having played the piece my self, I can truly appreciate the level of detail and effort put into the video. Also, the performance is breathtaking... The dynamics, melody, punctuation all with clarity and grace. Bravo!!!
Oh, how wonderful to read your thoughtful and meaningful words, ... thank you! I really appreciate you commenting on the details and effort that went into the lesson, and also for your generous words about the performance. It is true that when we play a piece, we have another level of understanding about the myriad of small yet important details! "The joy is in the detail!" I wish you the very best with your playing and your musical journey!
@@SallyChristianMusicand you have fine subtle drama !
@@RanBlakePiano Hello RanBlakePiano, thank you so much for your thoughtful and very appreciated words! Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
This is so useful to the amateur piano hobbyist. The breakdown of the piece into pieces that must each be learned well, promises many hours of happy practice. What is somewhat under control now, will be better in a year. What is beyond me now, may well be grasped in time. Practice the hardest parts until they become the easiest parts. Enjoyed every bit of this terrific lesson and performance, thank you Sally Christian
Hello John, thank you so much for your kind and wonderful words about this lesson and performance! I really appreciate hearing that the breakdown of the piece will be helpful as you practice and learn the piece by sections. Yes, practice the hardest parts until they are the easiest! 😊 Best wishes to you, and may you have many happy and joyful hours of practice! 🎹🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic Thank you as well, and as regards the pleasure of the habit of practice, once you have acquired it, it’s a positive difficulty to give it up. We see the score, and you, and me, and Yuja Wang, and the blackbird, and Rachmaninov, are all one.
@@johnpickering4579 Beautifully said, and absolutely true! Thank you for your wonderful and wise words! 💕
This was one of my favorite pieces to learn back in high school. Quite an effective piece, yet still technically accessible compared to most of Rachmaninov's works. I'll definitely give this a revisit.
Hello legendofcha, yes, definitely give this one a revisit! There is nothing more wonderful than to go back to an "old friend" of music and get reaquainted. I agree that compared to most of Rachmaninoff, this prelude is technically quite accessible, and also very enjoyable to play. Best wishes to you and with your playing.
Hi, Sally. I always thank you for your tutorials, videos, and advice. Best wishes to you and happy the week. ❤
Hello Sokwon, thank you for your very nice comment! I'm glad you are enjoying and benefitting from these videos! Best wishes to you. 🎶
This used to be my signature piece as a child and I am now drawn to the great B minor that I am working on. I didn't want to even listen to this because it brings up the issues of I never thought I ever played it well enough except that people used to say I played this well. This is a hard piece and I love these videos so I watched the entire clip. My piano teacher was a colleague of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli in Italy and my family had musical talent from both sides so I was very heavily criticized and decided on another path. During these unprecedented times I made it a goal to be successful working from home and indeed music is also that sanctuary for me too. I have my dogs and I have my work and I help people as well, but great music is the real awakening and you are truly the Brava Maestra Pianista! Thank you for this explanation of this masterpiece. I will go back to it when I have finished learning the great B minor of Rachmaninoff which is also difficult, I think maybe more difficult than this piece. I find Rachmaninoff's music astounding and I too am sometimes in awe of these compositions. What a great gift amidst all of our present global ambiguity that we can retreat in our homes and learn music.... Cordially, Catherine
Dear Catherine, I am deeply touched by your profound comment. Thank you very much for your wonderful words about this lesson. Yes, great music is the real awakening! I completely resonated with your words about a piece bringing up unresolved issues from our past. I also had a similar experience with a piece when I was in my early twenties. When we are in our younger years, the adults in our lives in positions of power have the ability to shape our experiences positively and encourage us, or do the opposite and discourage us. My experience with the latter involved playing a piano concerto that involved days of rehearsing. By the time the performance arrived, my “interpretation” had been radically changed by another’s will, and had become an empty shell of what it had previously been for me. It took another 15 years before I could even hear that piece again so traumatic was the experience. Years later, I had the opportunity to perform it again, this time with a very sensitive, supportive, and like-minded conductor. I was able to fall in love with the piece again. I say this to you and to others who may have soured on a piece or on the art form for various reasons. When we do get a second chance to “right the wrong,” it is a true gift and blessing. I think you will have your healing experience now with this C# minor Prelude. It is a worthy piece, and you are worthy and deserving to claim this piece once again as your signature piece, and play it with joy and feelings of confidence. Thank you for sharing your experience of this, and also for sharing how life has become for you in our present challenges of dealing with Covid 19. I wish you the very best with this piece and the Great B minor Prelude as well!
"It's grand, and maybe a little ominous" I can only interpret your words as exactly the opposite of hyperbole! This majestic piece and in particular your virtuosity Sally is assured only to bring your listeners nearer and nearer to the Genius whom was Sergei Rachmaninoff!
God yield you a blessing.
Hello Johannes, thank you for your beautiful, powerful, and thought-provoking words! You are so right; Rachmaninoff was a Genius, and we are blessed to have the majestic music he gave to the world. :-) Thank you also for your generous words about my playing. It has been a privilege to dedicate my life to this extraordinary art form. I wish you all the best, and a life graced through music!
You ARE our teacher from afar.
I have never experienced the intricacies of this piece the way I did when I watched this video.
I think there might be one final reference to the “dies irae” in the middle voice as the right hand plays the final few bars. (A, G#, A, F# - 7 measures from the end)
I cannot express the real depth of my gratitude for you, your work, and the amazing music you share with all of us. I wish you, your family, your neighbors, and everyone a beautiful and safe holiday season.
Hello Musicalintentions / James, thank you so much for your wonderful and heartfelt words! This lesson and chart was a particularly labor intensive project, and took many years to complete. I am therefore especially touched and grateful for everything you have said.
Hello Sally - thank you for the tutorial. We were both in the music department of FSU around in the early '70s under the tutelage of Mr. Philip Lorenz. Good memories. Anyway, you went on to become the consummate professional, while I sadly did without a piano for over 40 years. I picked it back up about 10 years ago. I was able to learn the C# minor prelude, but have a ways to go before I get to your level. Anyway, I am elated that you stayed with our beloved art for all these years. I wish you personal good luck and good health. You are my inspiration.
Hello Sonia, what a wonderful surprise to hear from you and read your beautiful comment! Thank you for your very dear and appreciated acknowledgements about my life-long path with the piano. Those early college years with Philip at CSUF were amazing. He gave us such a great foundation as well as a reverence for the art form. I often think of Philip and his teacher, Arrau, and am forever grateful for the sacred legacy they gave us. 🙏 I'm so happy you have returned to the piano and are playing this Rachmaninoff Prelude! I would love to know what other pieces you are playing now. I wish you good health, personal abundance, and a fulfilling musical journey with the piano! 💖😇
@@SallyChristianMusic Hello Sally - I am deeply honored that you were able to reply. I have to tell you, when we were at CSUF, I had heard you play several times, and I always knew you were a cut above all of us. I remember one recital - you were in a beautiful blue gown - Mr. Lorenz by your side. You looked either nervous or "in the zone" - I couldn't tell which, but you gave a spectacular recital - concert pianist quality. These days, now that I am serious about the piano again, I do regret not having stuck with it, if even on a superficial level. I regret that I didn't learn more about technique, expression, dynamics, and everything that makes a performance great. I will study your tutorial very closely, and resurrect the Prelude. I am also in the middle of learning Elegy, and have also played Vocalise - my favorite Rachmaninoff. Of course, there is Schubert and Chopin. I love the D-Flat Nocturne, but shied away from the "filigree" toward the end of the piece, so I have never performed it for my piano groups. I live in the San Diego area, and if you are ever in the neck of the woods to give a concert, I would love to attend, and bring some of my closest piano friends. May you continue to be blessed with your great appreciation for our artistic form. I am thankful that I have returned to it. '💝🎼🌺😘
@@soniaborden9717 Hi Sonia, thank you for mentioning these wonderful memories! I love hearing about the recital, the blue dress, and Philip standing by my side. 💕I really appreciate your kindness and generosity in sharing these precious times. 🙏 I'm so happy to hear you are working on the Chopin Db Nocturne and the Rachmaninoff Elegy and the Vocalise. Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers. I'm currently working on some of the Opus 23 Preludes and also reviewing the Opus 32 Preludes. I hope this tutorial helps, especially with the recapitulation which can be hard to follow in the music with all the big jumps and clef changes. I'm glad to know you live in the San Diego area. BTW: You can contact me at SallyChristianMusic@gmail.com to continue our conversation if you like. Sending blessings and all best wishes to you and with your music! 🎹💝
There are no words. I heard the Bosendorfer's thunder and then I saw smoke. I am so glad you constructed the Addendum. I can read it! Thank you a million, Sally. You have out done yourself on this one. I am exhausted! Thank You!
Hello Roger, I am so moved by your sincere and powerful words! Thank you as well for your acknowledgement about the Addendum. I hope it will help to navigate through the mass of notes that are often so difficult to read in the beginning. It was exhausting for me to complete this lesson and chart package, but it was also a true labor of love.
A beautiful, dramatic piece, of course, beautifully played. I feel like I lost a piece of my soul by not learning to play as a child. Works like this one, and especially Chopin's works, penetrate my soul through. Thank you very much Lady Sally 🌻
Hello Robert, thank you for your wonderful words! I feel the same way about Rachmaninoff and Chopin speaking to us instantly on a soul level. Listening to these amazing works not only uplifts us emotionally, but alters us on a cellular level. Very best wishes to you. :-)
I bought the chart for this piece and I got very happy. The variety and amount of information on the 5 pdf's are unbelievable, besides some pages have colors and they are also very beautiful. Thank you very much for this amazing class Teacher!
Hello André, I am so thrilled to read your wonderful words about the tutorial and the chart package you just purchased! Thank you very much for letting me know you are so happy with the 5 pdfs and the colors I used on the vertical and horizontal Color Structural Analyses. These are a great amount of work to formulate and produce. Your enthusiastic responses mean so much to me and are music to my ears! 🙏 I wish you all the best on your musical journey and with your playing of this beloved piece! 🎵
Thank you Sally for this magnificent tutorial and gorgeous performance. It has been a very long time since I've looked at this piece. I experienced so many ah ha moments during your presentation. The Dies Irae! I love the way the voices are taken apart It now makes me wonder how anyone can truly learn a piece without doing that. I have found your charts to be invaluable in memorizing pieces. I look forward to having a new experience with the beautiful color coded chart. Gina
Dear Gina, oh wow, thank you for your thoughtful and very appreciated words about this performance and lesson! You are so kind to mention things in the lesson that have particular meaning for you. I thought it made sense to say that those passages were a nod to the "Dies Irae,” and I'm glad you agree! I'm finding more and more how essential it is to take apart all the voices as separate horizontal lines and study them as stand-alone parts. Then when we put it all back together as written, we can actually hear them and decide which ones we want to bring out in the moment! This chart was really a labor of love; I hope you enjoy working from it!
Sally, wow, this is a superb performance and teaching. I enjoyed the tolling bells and their echoes. Your analyzing gives me a deeper understanding of the piece. I am not ready to tackle it yet, but something to look forward to. The charts are a big help.
Hello Ingrid! It is a joy to hear from you, and thank you so much for your beautiful words! I encourage you to try this piece some time in the future. Little by little, your fingers and ears will learn the patterns, and you will have another "friend for life!" With my very best wishes to you! :-)
Thank you Sally, sometime in the future and with your helpful charts and outstanding video teaching, I will learn this amazing piece--a friend for life. Fondly Ingrid
@@inga9788 That will be a great day, Ingrid! Yes, a friend for life!
Amazing, beautiful performance. This is way over my level but hopefully in a few years!!!!!
Hello Michael, thank you for your wonderful words about this performance. I hope that you will stay with your piano studies, and that someday you will play this magnificent prelude! Anything is possible, one step at a time. :-) Best wishes to you.
I just love this piece but have been terrified at the thought of attempting to play it (I consider myself lower/intermediate level). Your unique approach to the charts has hooked me though and I just downloaded them. I will have them printed properly and dig in. Thanks for making this so reachable and understandable. Your interpretation (both playing and verbal descriptions) are inspiring. You know how to communicate and I hope you teach many and often, it is a gift to be able to bring this to people.
Hello John, thank you so much for your wonderful and generous words about the lesson, the verbal descriptions, and the playing! I'm happy to hear how much you love this piece, and am delighted that you downloaded your chart pdfs and will soon be working from them. Making these charts is a labor of love, and your beautiful acknowledgements mean a great deal to me. Thank you also for your encouragement to continue with this work. 🙏 With very best wishes to you and with your playing! 🎵
Very good video for phrasing this wonderful piece of classic music
Welllll let me stick to my level for a moment. Just bought your JSB minuet in G major.
But boy what a treat is this tutorial even for a beginner like me, thank you so much for sharing.
Hello John, thank you for your kind and enthusiastic words about this tutorial! I'm so happy you enjoyed watching it, even though it is an early advanced level piece. Thank you also for your order for the Bach Minuet in G New Layout Chart. This is a wonderful piece for the early level student. I wish you all the best as you learn it, and progress little by little to the more advanced pieces. Perhaps one day you will play this beloved Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor! 🎵
Sally you knocked it out of the park-as usual! Gratefully yours, Brad Roberts
Hello Brad, ... wow, thank you for your generous words! I feel your energy, and really appreciate your support & enthusiasm!
With best wishes to you.
You are an excellent teacher! Thank you for all the time and effort you dedicate to teaching a musical piece at a masterful level, melodic line, technique, details of each articulation that you teach.... leaves me speechless ...each step by step is wonderful as you teach it, 1:12:36 I have seen the whole video, I bought the scores, ( excellent pedagogically) I want to thank you for sharing your masterful knowledge with many of us, students, teachers across the world, who love music and want to continue growing. I hope to improve the interpretation with all your knowledge, Thanks sally!
Hello Estephania, I am so touched to read your beautiful comment about this tutorial! Thank you for letting me know it was helpful on all of the levels you describe. 🙏 Making the charts and teaching videos are labors of love. Your generous words mean a great deal to me, and encourage me to continue with this work. I wish you much joy and inspiration as you shape your interpretation of this piece. With best wishes to you and your students! 🎵🦋
Ive only been playing paino for half a year and im learning this piece, and i can see just how much emotion this piece has, i only have a keyboard so its a bit hard to learn dynamics and punctuality right and ive had a hard time learning the Agitato section (im only a page and a half into this piece), this has been immensely helpful. Thank you.
Hello justtom4179, thank you for your very kind words about this tutorial. I appreciate knowing that it has been so helpful. 🙏 I wish you all the best learning this piece, and much success with your continuing piano studies! 🎹
So dark, very very popular, surprised you don't have more views. I love this one
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, this prelude is one of Rachmaninoff's most popular pieces. There's something about the "darkness" that took the world by storm! Best wishes to you. 🎵
Always a pleasant listen. Rachmaninoff pure contemplation. Best regards
Hello spadiu, thank you for your nice words. I agree, this piece is deeply contemplative, ... and transforming!
Best wishes to you as well.
By far the best & most comprehensive tutorial on the YT for this masterpiece ...thanx
Well, one thing you can say, Sally ain’t slacking in level o difficulty. Always a pleasure.
Hello Joseph, ... I love it- thank you! Your kind words are always appreciated! Very best wishes to you. :-)
Thank you for sharing, I love the story behind this piece and it's amazing that he wrote it when he was only 19... I tried to play this piece but I gave up cause my right hand is too small for the octaves 😂
Hello Hinnn, thank you for your kind words about the video. You are welcome, it is my pleasure. I'm glad you liked hearing the story behind this piece. I was also amazed that he wrote it at age 19. 🎉 Best wishes to you.
Thank you for this! I just scooped it up from your shop. I have the Schirmer performance edition of this already, but it's just so dense on the page. I will definitely benefit from your presentation of this masterwork.
Hello Charles, thank you for your very appreciated words! I am so happy that you ordered your chart, and can now see how much easier it is to read the last dense section of the recapitulation from the Addendum I made. It helped me tremendously to accurately track and memorize the full chordal combinations for each hand seeing it this way on the page! I wish you many wonderful hours as you learn and memorize this masterpiece! :-)
Breathtaking chords tone and articulation . Can really feel the story of " The Bell" . Sally you are amazing and interpretation is so in depth!
Hello Hui, what a beautiful comment you have written, ... thank you so much! I really appreciate your thoughtful and acknowledging words about the tones, articulation, and the interpretation! Very best wishes to you. :-)
Love love love hearing you play ... THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR GIFT!! 🥰👏🏽😳✨
Hello LC7 Smith, thank you for your sweet and dear message! I can feel the genuine love in your words, and I am very grateful. :-) With many best wishes to you!
The Bösendorfer Imperial definitely chimes the bells for Rachmaninoff. Such a powerful instrument wielded by incredibly capable hands.
Hello Old Tinho, thank you for your wonderful words about the Bösendorfer chiming the bells for Rachmaninoff!
I completely agree. It is a thrill to produce and hear such glorious sounds coming from this magnificent 9 1/2 foot instrument! Thank you also for your poetically descriptive and complimentary words about the playing!
Best wishes to you. :-)
I love like you play piano and i follow you, very nice
Hello Johny, thank you so much for your wonderful words about the playing. :-) I really appreciate hearing that you are following my channel and enjoying the videos! Best wishes to you.
MAGNIFICENT SALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Luis, how wonderful to read your words so overflowing with energy and enthusiasm! Seeing your beautiful bold letters and exclamation marks puts a big smile on my face. :-)) Thank you for your generosity, and all best wishes to you!
this is such a beautiful piece and you have given it justice. Bravo maestro!
Hello Some Mango, thank you for your generous and kind words. I appreciate you saying that the lesson "has given justice" to this beautiful piece! 🎶 Best wishes to you.
Very nice !Thank you !
Hello Guy, it's nice to hear from you, and thank you for your very nice words! All best wishes.
I love your posts , and learn from one of them a lot , thank you
Hello Sina, thank you so much for your wonderful words! I am very happy to hear that you are enjoying and learning from the videos!
Happy New Year 2021 to you, and all best wishes with your music!
GREAT I LOVE YOUR PLAYING! ❤💯🙋♂️
Hello Oiva, thank you so much for your enthusiastic & very appreciated words! 🎉With all best wishes to you. 🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic Have you Face bok? Can i ask you Friend?
Thank you so much for this tutorial.! One of the best I've seen.
Hello Minor Academy, thank you for your kind and generous words! I really appreciate your enthusiastic responses to this tutorial. Best wishes to you.
@@SallyChristianMusic I have to say though that the cadenza sounds nothing like Rachmaninoff intended it to be played or how he recorded it. Have you heard his original recording of the Prelude? And is not only you but everyone else I have heard. I don't know if it is left to anyone interpretation but I think Rachmaninoff has a clear view of how he wanted it to be played because he is playing it himself and it sounds different.
@@minoracademy Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor comment July 9, 2021
Hello Minor Academy, thank you for your question about Rachmaninoff’s recording of his Prelude in C# minor and the cadenza. Yes, I have heard it. It is my experience that a composer’s recordings of the same piece will vary, especially with a work that they played over many decades. You can compare the recordings of Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid and hear completely different approaches to this same work he wrote. Rachmaninoff’s playing of the cadenza in the recording I heard is extremely fast, as is the case with his playing in many of his other recordings. Is this the difference you are hearing? You will find other people who will agree with you that if the composer played it this way, then that is the only correct way to play it. I do not see it this way, nor do the many other pianists you have heard playing this piece. To me, the cadenza is more beautiful if played a little more slowly so we can hear clearly all of the exquisite harmonic changes, rather than as one blurred rapid-fire passage. Interpretations are a matter of personal choice and preference. While keeping faithful to the markings in the music, there will invariably be differences from pianist to pianist in the performance of any piece.
@@SallyChristianMusic that's my 10 year old son practicing the agitato and cadenza of the Prelude in C sharp minor. Any thoughts or your insight will be much appreciated.
ruclips.net/user/shortsVuKEa89G1x4?feature=share
@@minoracademy Hello Minor Acacemy, thank you for sending the video of your son playing the Agitato and Cadenza sections of the piece. He is doing a good job and plays with musical expressiveness. There is one place in the Cadenza that can be confusing for students if they are not counting correctly. In the Cadenza, measures 41 & 42, there is a pattern of alternating right and left hand chords. Beginning on the downbeat of measure 41, there are FOUR groups altogether, (each group has 2 triplets) and begins with the right hand playing note F# on the top note of the chords of every other triplet. These occur on beats 1 & 3. Your son is adding one more group and is playing FIVE groups instead of four groups. Please watch the video at 50:05 to see me showing the Color Structural Analysis at this section. You will see four letter F# that I have written above these four groups to help the student easily see and play the correct number of groups. This Color Structural Analysis pdf is extremely helpful to easily see other structural details like this, which is why I make and include them in the lesson and in the chart package. I hope this helps your son!
I think this is one of your best! 😍
Dear Joshua, I am really happy to see your enthusiastic words and responses to this video! The tutorial, performance, and chart package took a very long time to make, and I was also pleased with the finished results. Thank you so much for letting me know you really liked this one! 💌 You are a very kind and thoughtful person. I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season, and a great 2022!
@@SallyChristianMusic A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to your, your family, and your Bösendorfer! 😁
@@Joshua-dc1bs So sweet, ... thank you! 🎹
I'm learning this piece now for a competition and this video has been very helpful. Wonderful performance of the piece as well! Thanks so much for your hard work.
Hello Paul, thank you very much for your kind a much appreciated words! These videos and charts are labors of love, and your warm acknowledgement means a great deal to me. You are welcome, it is my pleasure. 🎵I wish you all the best with your playing and may you have an enjoyable competition experience as well!
can't wait to check this out!
Nice, ... thank you! :-)
Thank you so much! 🧡 You have told me so much about the philosophy of this piece... Everything you said was so right ! This course was exiting😊
Hello Yohan, thank you so much for your warm and enthusiastic words! I really appreciate hearing that the lesson was exciting and revealed the philosophy behind the piece! 💕 With best wishes to you. 🎵
Not "the Cadillac" of Rachmaninov preludes, but the most-famous of the 24 he has written. The C-sharp minor.
You hear the clear musical form in this prelude - Intro, A section, B section, A section, and Coda. The B section is the agitated section with 2 climaxes---the second one being much more dramatic.
The A section reprise is classic Rachmaninov - grand chords, big octaves. It is like Rachmaninov was doing a "2-piano-4 hands" effect in that texture, and definitely orchestral-like--the "tutti" here.
The coda ends the loudness and greatness once and for all - into calmness and introspection. Sally had also mentioned that this prelude was the big setup for the Db major prelude, which uses some of the themes of the C-sharp minor one. So Rachmaninov was probably obsessed with "cyclic form" here. Just like he did in the 2nd and 3rd piano concerti of his.
I have been wanting to learn this piece. The lesson and layout of the piece clearly explains how I need to approach learning this. Excellent lesson!
Hello Brad, thank you for your wonderful words about the lesson and the chart layout of the piece. I hope these will help you as you learn this fantastic piece! Very best wishes to you.
Thank you for this!
Love the addendum!!! Really helpful! Thank you so much Sally!
Thank you so much! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. I really appreciate hearing that the Addendum was helpful. 💕
Best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
@@SallyChristianMusic🙏
Last page has to be memorized! I'm not a good memorizer. And this is hell for a reader. But then the 12 lr, same, almost! Magic how sinple it is acually! This I can memorize! Addendum! ❤
@@per174 Hello per174, thank you so much for your second and very appreciated comment! I'm so happy that this Addendum for the difficult recapitulation section has made it easy for you to read and memorize the music. When I made this Addendum, I was also thrilled to see the music magically "come into focus." With this reformatting showing the two elements pulled apart, it makes it so much easier to read, hear, play, and track! 🎉
With continuing best wishes to you and with your playing. 🎶
@@SallyChristianMusic thank you so much! 🙏
Thank you for this video!
Finally! Oh, and bravoo!!!
Thank you so much Gabriel! I just saw your comment today, a year later! 🎵
Rachmaninoff detested having to play this piece as an encore at most of his concerts...it was his most requested piece...he hated having to play it so much...familiarity breeds contempt!
Wow ! very powerful and packed with energy. and sensitivity.. Sally, thank you very much for this tutorial, I have a slightly unrelated question ...I am working on Chopins, Nocturne no.48 op 1 and I could have sworn I had watched your video on this piece ...please tell me I did not just dream this and that this video exists because I cannot find it anywhere, in the video I believe you had talked about replacing your Steinway with your current piano.
Hello Steve, thank you for your wonderful and very appreciated words about this lesson! I am sorry to say that I have not made a video of the majestic and powerful Chopin Nocturne in C minor, Opus 48, No. 1. I adore this piece, and have always wanted to finish learning it. Thank you for your suggestion for a lesson on this piece, which I will strongly consider for the future. In the meantime, I wish you all the best with your playing of this magnificent nocturne! 🌟🎵
😍 Braaaaaavo!!!!👏👏👏👏👏👏
Hola Isabel, thank you, thank you! Your "applause" is very much appreciated! Blessings and best wishes to you.
Magical!!
Hello c zeeb, thank you so much for your beautiful comment! :-) All best wishes to you.
Fantastic analysis! Thank you so much! Really like your smart organized and stacking of the scores. Think I'll try set up something similar myself. :)
Question: Pedaling in the last rich ending page. When do you change?
Haha, downloaded now 😂
Hello Per174, thank you so much for your kind words about this analysis and the New Layout Charts! Regarding the pedaling on the last page measure 45 - 52, I change the pedal on every left hand downbeat chord and on the beats 3 & 4 octaves. I hope this helps. Best wishes to you playing this wonderful piece! 🎶
Yes, thought so. Thanks again. Guess I'll stay using this video for a while, with your scores. Really helpful! ❤
Need to find a decent printer, Ipad too small. 😂
@@per174 You are welcome! I'm also very happy to see that you ordered the chart for this piece. Thank you for letting me know how how helpful the chart pdfs are! FYI: I always go to a print shop like Staples to have my large 11 X 17 size sheets printed on heavy 60 pound cardstock. Best wishes to you with your practicing and mastering of this piece! 🎶
@@SallyChristianMusic 🙏
Hello. I love this video it gave me the confidence to learn this prelude
Could you please do a video on Chopin's Revolutionary Etude in C Minor if you have the time. Thanks
Hello Drew, thank you so much for your wonderful words! I really appreciate hearing that the tutorial has given you the confidence to learn this piece! I will add the Chopin Revolutionary Etude to my queue of future videos I would like to make. Best wishes to you and with your music! 🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic Wonderful, thank you.
Já estava com saudades de seus vídeos 🥰🥰🥰
É tão bom ouvir isso, ... obrigado, Ivan!
Will you ever make more videos about Chopin’s Preludes? I was just watching your video from several years ago on No. 8 in F# minor. I’d love to see a video on No. 1 in C or No. 11 in B. Those are my two favorites
Hello Benjamin, thank you for your request for more Chopin Prelude teaching videos. I do love these pieces, and have added your suggestions to my ever-expanding queue of future videos I hope to be able to complete. Best wishes to you.
please do one of these for scriabin 7!
Hello Samaritan, thank you for the great suggestion! I adore Scriabin's 7th Sonata, and know it very well. It was the opening piece on my CSUF Masters Degree Recital Program many years ago. What a thrill it would be to bring it back again. :-)
Best wishes to you.
Thank you very much 🙏❤
Hello Britta, thank you so much for your kind and much appreciated words! You are welcome, it is my pleasure. Best wishes to you. 🎶
Awesome!!!
Thank you so much!! Best wishes to you.
Well done young lady. Is there a better pice for piano?
Thank you for your kind words. I agree, this piece is one of the greats! 🎵
💓
Aww, .... thank you! :-) Love it!
One thing that interests me as someone learning the piece, the manuscript says the initial part is ppp but I see a lot of people playing this part quite loud, I'm not really sure if I should be playing it loud or very softly.
Hello bleesev2, thank you for your question. The opening introductory three octaves, notes A, G#, & C# are marked fff. Immediately after this, Theme I begins and is marked ppp with occasional swells to mf. The overall sound for this Theme I section should be very soft. After the Development Section, the introductory and Theme I material is heard again beginning in measure 43. Everything has transformed and has become huge with dynamic markings of fff & ffff. Best wishes to you and with your playing of this magnificent prelude. 🎶
Hi, Sally! I have question on pedaling the middle section. You indicate change on evry beat the entire section . I have an edition where the first two bars have pedal only on the one (same when that repeats en octave higher). Rest of bars hav pedal on beat 1 and 3, 2 and 4 no pedal. Maybe it's to help with phrasing? It is hard to relearn with this pedalsystem. What do you think?
@SallyChristianMusic I like your version best. Bit difficult this 1 and 3 pedal, but it may work. Trying it out, slow, a little confused where to go. 😂
Hello per174, you ask a very good question about the pedaling. This is really a matter of personal preference. Either way will work as long as the playing is clean, even, and creates a sense of surging agitation. The speed you are playing, the brightness of the piano, and the size and acoustics of the room will also influence the amount of pedal you might want to use. Listen to these variables as well as to the feel and the character of the music to decide which pedaling sounds best to you. I hope this helps!
@@SallyChristianMusic yes it is the agitiation you want. Easy to fall out on the last crazy desceting sequence. Maybe pedal 1 and 3, up on 2 and 3 helps keeping track. Easy to fall out there. 😀
Trying it out. Thanks a lot, Sally! 🙏
*Up on 2 and 4 😀
@@per174 You are welcome! 😊
Your sincere fan misses more advice on technical issues viz fingering, the 4-5 in both hands. Anyway rainy days are great for when you want to practice LOUD cheers j
Hello John, thank you for your kind words and loud cheers! Best wishes to you. 🎵
Referring to around 1:20:45 Measure 51 doesn't seem to add up mathematically. It seems like it requires an extra quaver to drop down and hit the bass chord?
Hello Charles, there are no missing quavers in measure 51. This measure is correctly notated with the full 4 beats of 8 quavers / eighth notes. The extra bass note you are hearing in the lesson belongs to the next measure 52. In the lesson at the spot you mention, I show how to count this and play it so the tempo is broadened. The continuity of the pulse is bent, but not broken. This is difficult to do smoothly as both hands move from low to high chords on the first beat downbeat, and it must be as seamless as possible with no pauses in the rhythm.
I’m stupid. I clicked on the link to buy the chart but instead of prelude in c#minor i got prelude op32 nr 3.
/edit op32 nr 4
Hello John, I am happy to help you get the chart you had meant to order. Please email me at SallyChristianMusic@gmail.com so we can communicate directly and successfully complete your order. 🎶
@@SallyChristianMusic will do
It seems my emails do not reach you?
@@JohnRR So far, not. Please check your inbox for my email sent earlier today.
why are the thumbs crossed? seems easier to just play the notes with the hand that's closest to them.
Hello Tino, thank you for your question, which other readers may also have questions about. Here is my explanation: If you play the hands alone in this section, you will see that each hand plays an octave with an additional note in the middle. There are no other fingerings to use other than fingers 1 & 5 to play these octaves. Rachmaninoff has written a very beautiful descending passage of parallel thirds with these octaves which we need to hear and bring out. You do not have to overlap the thumbs, but I found it more awkward if I did not. By overlapping the thumbs, it actually becomes easier to play smoothly as you negotiate the different patterns of black keys. I hope this makes sense, and best wishes to you.
A classic piece..... Always like minor tonality....why is that ??
Hello Craig, it's nice to hear from you again. Rachmaninoff loved the minor tonalities, and favored using them over the major keys for the most part. In my youth, especially, I also preferred the minor tonalities. I found them comforting, powerful, soulful, and very beautiful. Perhaps you feel a similar resonance. I hope this finds you well, and stay safe during these Covid times. Best wishes to you.