13 Preludes, op.32 (Rachmaninoff)

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The young Rachmaninoff 1901

The 13 Preludes op. 32 are a piano cycle composed in 1910 by Sergei Rachmaninov and his last contribution to the genre of the prelude .

With the previous collection of the 10 Preludes and the famous C sharp minor Prelude from the Morceaux de fantaisie , he was now able to present 24 pieces with which he continued the traditional line from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier to Chopin's Preludes op.28, even if he was originally planned closed cycle through all major and minor keys not completed.

Compared to the previous collection, many of the pieces are even more complex in terms of composition and more musically demanding. While the lyrical episodes are increasingly tinged with tragic tones, the sound world becomes more differentiated and exquisite.

The Preludes are an important part of his piano work, which, with its melancholy-pathetic tonal language, dramatic upswings and dynamic increases, represents the final climax of late romantic piano music and continues to be a challenge for great pianists .

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The major contributions are found mainly at the end of the cycle. One of them is the gloomy, tenth, three-part Prelude in B minor with its majestic middle section, a profound work that the composer himself valued very much, the 12th piece in G sharp minor, the one with a glittering sixteenth-note figure on the right The hand, under which the left plays a sad melody, and the symphonic sound painting at the end of the collection, which rises to an apotheosis of piano sound with its mighty chords.

  • No. 1 in C major: ( Allegro vivace , 2/2)
  • No. 2 in B flat minor: ( Allegretto , 9/8)
  • No. 3 in E major ( Allegro vivace , 4/4)
  • No. 4 in E minor ( Allegro con brio )
  • No. 5 in G major ( Moderato , 4/4)
  • No. 6 in F minor ( Allegro appassionato , 2/4)
  • No. 7 in F major ( Moderato , 2/2)
  • No. 8 in A minor ( Vivo , 6/4)
  • No. 9 in A major ( Allegro moderato , 9/8)
  • No. 10 in B minor ( Lento , 4/4)
  • No. 11 in B major ( Allegretto , 3/8)
  • No. 12 in G sharp minor ( Allegro , 12/8)
  • No. 13 in D flat major ( Grave , 4/4)

Origin and background

(see 10 Preludes ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The presentation is based on: Sergei Rachmaninow, 13 Préludes op.32 . In: Harenberg piano music guide, 600 works from the baroque to the present . Meyers, Mannheim 2004, p. 654