Rachmaninoff - Lilacs
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2024
- About eleven years ago I discovered the album ‘A Window In Time’, a collection of Rachmaninoff’s compositions and arrangements played by the man himself (his original performances were recorded onto piano rolls that were digitally scanned decades later and played back on a Bösendorfer reproducing piano). The second track, Lilacs, immediately caught my ear, and it became a piece that I wanted to play some day, though I never actually sat down to learn it properly until very recently.
Rachmaninoff’s version of Lilacs from ‘A Window In Time’: • S.Rachmaninoff A Windo...
Sheet music: imslp.simssa.ca...
Overlayed lilacs image (by Paula W): www.flickr.com...
Another one of my classical performances:
• Tchaikovsky/Volodos - ...
Check out my piano playlist on Spotify:
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Notes:
Rachmaninoff originally composed Lilacs for voice and piano in 1902. He later arranged it for solo piano in 1913, and that's the version I'm playing. A few years later he revised this version to make it easier to play (the section from 1:40-1:49 is simplified). The newer version can be found in a book of Rachmaninoff transcriptions published by Alfred. I’m playing the original 1913 version as that is the one heard on ‘A Window In Time’ and the one I'm most familiar with.
There are some inner melodic lines I tried to bring out eg. at 0:19-0:24 there’s a line in the LH that seems to act as supporting harmony, while also being a countermelody to the main RH melody, with the high Db in the LH resolving down to the C in the RH at 0:24.
I deliberately downplayed some tenutos in certain sections (eg. 0:48-0:54 in the LH), instead aiming for a smoother cascade of notes at these parts.
For some strange reason the transcription shown in the video deviates slightly from the piano roll recording at 0:59-1:02. I decided to play it the same way as the recording.
This was recorded using one of the onboard piano sounds of my Roland FP-7 keyboard. The audio was recorded directly into my MOTU audio interface. In Reaper there’s some light EQ, some reverb from Valhalla Room and some subtle stereo expansion using the free plugin MStereoExpander by MeldaProduction.
If you’re still reading this, thanks! Here’s a life tip: playing the piano becomes significantly easier once you have opened the lid.
Thank you for introducing me to this piece. This piece reminds me of impressionism. Bravo.
Glad I helped you discover a new piece. It has to be one of my favourites by Rachmaninoff. You’re right - the pandiatonicism/general lack of functional harmony in the opening section lends itself to a tranquil impressionist mood. The part from 1:04-1:16 sounds distinctly Russian to me though. Thanks for listening!
That was divine Daniel.
Thanks Mel!
I really love your movement
Congratulations! I thoroughly enjoyed your playing of Lilacs. What a treat!!
Thank you, that means a lot!
Wow! I didn't even know this piece existed! This is beautiful!
It's certainly one of Rach's lesser known pieces!
beeauutiful
very lovely! my favourite interpretion of this piece, how difficult would you say this is relative to other rachmaninoff pieces?
Thanks a lot, I'm flattered. As for the difficulty, it's on the harder end of the scale. There are some tricky sections that makes it more difficult than (or equal to) a lot of the preludes, however most of the etudes tableaux (esp. op 39) are very dense and some of the hardest pieces that he composed
Is this piece technically difficult? I’m 14 who just finished playing Chopins harp etude in a month
Having played the harp etude myself, I would say they are pretty even in difficulty. Lilacs for the most part fits under the hands very nicely and there aren’t too many quick leaps between notes. There are only two quite challenging parts - 1:40-1:49, and 2:02-2:08, and the first part is a lot easier in Rachmaninoff’s revision. If you are at the stage of playing Chopin etudes then I think you are ready to learn this, and I would recommend doing so as it’s a really beautiful piece
Impressive! Keep it up!!