Prelude in G minor Op. 23 No. 5

Sergueï Rachmaninov · Level 6 (Expert) · Romantic · Piano

Rachmaninoff’s most played prelude (1901): a march with a hammered rhythm, framing a lyrical central episode in wide arpeggios. A prelude by Rachmaninoff, a summit of Russian Romantic piano writing. G minor, 4/4, 86 bars (about 3 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Short, bouncing chords in the march, with a relaxed forearm; in the middle, let the melody rise out of the left-hand arpeggios. Power without harshness: play with arm weight and a loose wrist, and prepare the big chords. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Triplets and other tuplets must be perfectly even: count them aloud with the metronome.

More pieces by Sergueï Rachmaninov

• Prelude in E-flat major Op. 23 No. 6
• Prelude in C-sharp minor Op. 3 No. 2
• Prelude Op. 23, No. 9
• Prelude in G-flat major Op. 23 No. 10

Source : Mutopia Project · CC BY-SA 4.0