Repertoire Ideas (Part 1)


Sergei Rachmaninoff - Prelude in D Major, Op. 23 No. 4

Performance

For pianists, this piece holds a special place as among the most beautiful solo pieces to play. Its main cantabile melody undergoes variation treatment (AA’BA’’) particularly with lyrical counterpoint and increasingly rich orchestration, with a tremendous climax leading to the final A section. In this detailed lesson on the piece, Fred Karpoff explores elements such as voicing, pedalling, three-dimensional technical solutions and clever options for how to retake voices in different hands to facilitate a smoother, more pianistic performance.

Performance

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Resources & links

Click here to download a Fred's marked score for this work or click here to view open domain editions.

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Fred Karpoff Repertoire