Prelude In C-sharp Minor (Rachmaninoff)
Prelude in C-sharp minor (Russian: Прелюдия), Op. 3, No. 2, is one of Sergei Rachmaninoff's most famous compositions. It is a ternary (ABA) prelude for piano in C-sharp minor, 62 measures long, and part of a set of five pieces entitled Morceaux de fantaisie.
Its first performance was by the composer on September 20, 1892, at a festival called the Moscow Electrical Exhibition, which Rachmaninoff considered his debut as a pianist. After this première, a review of the concert singled out the Prelude, noting that it had “aroused enthusiasm”. From this point on, its popularity grew.
Rachmaninoff later published 23 more preludes to complete a set of 24 preludes covering all the major and minor keys, to emulate earlier sets by Bach, Chopin, Alkan, Scriabin and others.
Read more about Prelude In C-sharp Minor (Rachmaninoff): Background, Composition, Reception, Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words prelude and/or minor:
““We’re all friends here” is a prelude to fraud. “I am sincere” is a prelude to lying.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to “a semi-official statement”; if they have fallen into conversation with a stranger at a bar, they can conscientiously describe him as “a source that has hitherto proved unimpeachable.” It is only when the journalist is reporting a whim of his own, and one to which he attaches minor importance, that he defines it as the opinion of “well-informed circles.””
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)