Rachmaninoff’s Etude-Tableaux are meant to create a picturesque scene in the minds of the listener. If you recall my earlier blog post about the e-flat minor Etude-Tableau, I discussed my scenario of a man at the mercy of nature at its fiercest. In his g minor etude Op. 33 No. 5, I’ve become so entrenched […]
The focus of this article is to show the relationship and development of the motifs used in the first movement of Beethoven’s Tempest sonata. At this point in his composing, Beethoven began to distill his motifs to very short phrases, often just a few notes. The Tempest sonata is a great example of how Beethoven […]
This is one of Rachmaninoff’s greatest pieces for solo piano. It is a dark and brooding monster of an etude. The texture is as dense as a piece can get without using your whole forearm to play. The real difficulty in this piece is allowing the long melodic lines to be brought out and phrased […]