Prelude in D major Op.23 No.4 ( Rachmaninoff)

In May 1902 Rachmaninoff married his cousin, Natalia Satin. His marriage, as so often with artists, led to a great burst of creativity, including the Ten Preludes for piano which comprise his Opus 23. The Moscow recital on 10 February 1903 in which Rachmaninov premiered the Variations also saw the first performance of three of the Op 23 set, Nos 1, 2 and 5. The remaining seven were written in Moscow during the next few weeks as the couple awaited the birth of their first child in May. The complete set of Ten Preludes was published later the same year and dedicated to Alexander Siloti, who had been one of the two best men at their wedding.
Rachmaninov’s annual routine was predictable. The winter months, the concert season, were given over to concert engagements, and the summer months to rest, and work on the large estate at Ivanovka which he owned. The result was that little time could be devoted to composition, so when the rare opportunities arose when Rachmaninov was able to write, his works were written very quickly.
It does not require much imagination to see that having begun his Chopin Variations, Rachmaninov would naturally be drawn to the work that sparked them off (a set of Preludes) and, having already composed the G minor, he would have begun a set of his own.
This prelude was written in 1903 and is in ternary form.
It has the speed indication of Andante cantabile (slow and song-like) in 3/4 time.
(At 0'29'' Rachmaninoff emulates Chopin's idea of a counter-note above the melody line, as in the prelude, number 13, of the 24 preludes of Chopin. But Rachmanminoff goes one better at 1'24'' by having a separate melody, giving the impression of there being 3-hands playing!!)
(This prelude reminds me of when my first child, a girl, was born:
The music upto 3'20'' could represent the 9-month development of the phoetus with periods of calm and moments of discomfort as the child moves around, followed by the day of birth with the worrying and wondering if all will go well, as I imagine it is with most couples who are expectant.
At the birth itself (3' 29''), culminating in the joyous moment when she came into the world: there was intense emotional joy to see her whole, and without having had any complications in the delivery. In my mind the music seemed to be firing pinpoints of light at the pinnacle of a firework display in celebration of the occasion!!
There followed a period of calm and rest as she lay peacefully in her mother's arms. A feeling of intense love and desire to protect her through her early life surged through my being: All is as it should be!)
GlynGlynn, realiser.
Please feel free to leave any comments, be they good, bad, or indifferent as to whether the piece, or the performance, moved you in any way!
(Since music is an aural art, and not a visual one, it is best to listen to these pieces, and other artists performances, with eyes closed, so as to be able to listen intently as to how the music is portrayed).