HOPE vs. FATE - Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor Op. 3 no. 2 - Analysis

Rachmaninoff sets two voices against each other in his most famous piece: the Prelude in C sharp minor Op. 3 no. 2. The fateful motif in the low register rings like funeral bells, and the response in the high register tries to find a way out of the nightmare. Pianist Henrik Kilhamn plays and interprets the music.
0:00 Introduction
Analysis:
2:32 Lento
7:54 Agitato
11:03 Return
14:55 The dream
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S. Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3 no. 2 (from "Morceaux de Fantaisie", Op. 3)
📄 Score: Muzgiz edition, 1947, editors Pavel Lamm & Konstantin Igumnov, imslp.org
Emoji artwork provided by JoyPixels, joypixels.com

[@SonataSecrets]

Check out my EASY ARRANGEMENT of this piece: sonatasecrets.gumroad.com/l/rach-prelude-3-2 💲 Get 15% off with the discount code: "secretseeker" More SIMPLE SOLUTIONS arrangements: sonatasecrets.gumroad.com/

[@chicokarpola]

14:16 - "Maybe hope isn't dead, maybe we can change fate. No, I'm sorry, it's in vain." Wonderful analysis, and so enjoyable. Thank you.

[@PianistStefanBoetel]

I really like your philosphical approach!

[@nachobioteck]

I had heard a similar but different story. My grandfather told me that one of Rachmaninovs greatest fears was to be buried alive and waking up in the coffin. He said the music represented that,. First is dark but peaceful, then he wakes up and realizes what happens and freaks only to die soon after. It's kind of dark but interesting

[@kristian6566]

Chopin definitely sufffered from this. It is called "taphephobia" apparently. That's why he wanted his heart to be cut out, so he certainly wouldn't be buried alive.

[@SonataSecrets]

Yes I read that one too. I'm thinking maybe they both originates from the same source that somehow turned out two different versions, because they are suspiciously similar...

[@yvonnedickson3150]

That is the story my mother told me. I did play the piece when I was about 16 because liked the dark story

[@AnaPaula-np5rq]

Excellent video as always. You are very elegant today. You are the most charismatic Pianist on KZbin. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️🌷🌷

[@AnaPaula-np5rq]

@Ismael Carlos Sei quem é mas nao o sigo. Pessoas sao como musicas algumas gostamos desde de o inicio, outras gostamos depois de um tempo.

[@ShredmasterScott]

This piece is so metal 🤘

[@Mr.Coincidence]

Didn't expect to see you here.

[@user-uz7gb7gb4v]

Those tritone subs give me goosebumps! So good! 😍

[@jordthepianoguy]

Very nice video! I really like how you give insights into what you think while playing! This is very helpful for interpretation!

[@SonataSecrets]

Thanks, I'm happy you enjoyed it!

[@joaooctaviooliveiracony500]

I think you are stalking me! Every music i am studying you make an apisode, amazing! Hahaha Excelent work, this is the most difficult music i try to play, im just a amateur, but im learning a lot with you, about music, interpretation and etc. Thanks, man.

[@SonataSecrets]

Thanks, I'm glad it's helpful!

[@wladypimentel]

Amazing video. Thank you so much

[@texaswildcat6425]

Oh migosh, this just popped up on my suggestions to watch. I have been working on this piece and finally progressing a bit better. But I've had questions, and would watch videos along with reading the music to find out how certain parts were being played. You've helped me so much in verifying that what I'm doing is correct but also showing me where I'm needing to go back and reevaluate. The timing of this showing up is so cool, thank you for making this and God bless.💐

[@Tobi-hu9mf]

I love your technique and interpretation! I'd really like to hear you make a full performance of this peace if you'd be able!

[@wiliamfmz14]

Its really cool that u help us to understand more about music and about The piece, you're awesome

[@Arthur-qe8xc]

Thank you for the video! I'm currently working on this piece and your analysis helped me to understand the piece more than before and express slightly better than before ❤️

[@margarethansen7480]

Very nice, I love the explanation you made. I found my old partiture of that prelude (that is always on my musical mind), and I hope try to play again Thanks a lot for that excelent video❤

[@erikfano903]

Again, Henrik , the way you interpret this prelude gives me shivers. Im relatively new to classical music (around year and a half since i first started), and this was one of the first pieces that caught my attention,I had my own interpretation and understanding of it, but your analisis influenced by all your knowledge on the matter will make my experience of listening to the piece much more joyful. Henrik, thank you so much for making this videos.

[@jppitman1]

Hey, welcome to the 1,000 year old genre. Of course, by now as I type this, you`re 3 1/2 years into it, assuming you`ve not yet succumbed to fate itself. "Confidence is high." Not knowing how far along you are you, might check out Dave Hurwitz`s videos where he discusses which music of a given composer to start with. It is such a rich field with a varied and marvelous history which, to me, is the ultimate expression of our "human-ness". Jump into the Land Rover and enjoy your safari!

[@savd3700]

You made this video just the moment wich i want start to learn the piece! Thank you and really great job 👍🏼

[@SonataSecrets]

Great timing! :)

[@user-wd5ss8uw7l]

Your channel is just great! Rakhmaninov’s music is eternal and how good is that there’re such performers as this guy! Please, give your assessment of how he plays!

[@GabrielAlves-ll6lc]

i've been waiting for thiissss, this channel is awesomee

[@ariannak6102]

Wow, this is a great explanation and thankyou! Am now interested in finding out more info about this piece and composer

[@SonataSecrets]

He has got loads of piano music!

[@HiHello-rs1ey]

Nice video 👍 😄 😃 😁 Really excited for future uploads!! 😆

[@triangleDAYS]

this was a really awesome video! i love your interpretation of what the piece could mean!!!

[@alexfriedman7904]

Awesome analysis! 👏👏

[@andoniarrigorriaga2985]

Amazing content! Cheers from Chile and merry Christmas

[@SonataSecrets]

Thank you! Merry Christmas!

[@alexandergroysman2357]

Audience also shouted "Play IT!"

[@mehrshidmatin32]

Thanks for this lovely analyze. It really gave me crucial clues to think deeper on what I play and to have more profound attitude.

[@SonataSecrets]

I'm glad you liked it! :)

[@stevenbeer6005]

Excellent as ever! Cheers!

[@CindyMusicPianoWorkshop]

Thank you for sharing. I am learning this piece now. Listening to your analysis between Fate and Hope, and also the story about Rachmaninoff of this piece, make me feel more when I play this piece.

[@floogy]

Thank you for resolving that D natural vs D sharp issue for me! I have a version with D sharp, but kept hearing D natural versions. It was driving me crazy, because I was wondering if there was an error in my copy, but didn't want it to be an error because I like the D sharp more! I subscribed. Thank you!

[@HotRatsAndTheStooges]

I feel that the hope theme is more questioning, defiant, innocent, naïve. And the steady bells are evocative of death and the inevitability of fate.

[@tk21them]

Good explanation mate keep it up

[@joaopedroblaschke3445]

my God, you make such a good content

[@zxxz0000]

Thank you so much for clarification on the D#!!

[@GreenTea4]

oh man, this is amazing, I'd love an analysis of his op.39 no.6

[@carolyntorres8171]

Fabulous teaching!

[@ap7498]

Thank you

[@joseedesjardins4556]

Thank you for your insight!

[@antoinealtamiranomendoza1720]

you're awesomeeeee, love the content. love your channel. keep on the good work.

[@SonataSecrets]

Thank you, will do!

[@mahyargharehdaghi9383]

Yeah, practically the same way I view it. I always think of the 5 stages of grief, and if the story about its origin is true, then it sticks even better

[@morgankane961]

Amazing content! I love this channel. I use a lot of your analysis in my work. Based on your accent I take it you are swedish? Regards from a norwegian music teacher :)

[@GabrielWilliamsOfficial]

Great analysis

[@truBador2]

I'm thinking of playing this! Subscribed. Great analysis of great music. He's a ghost!

[@SonataSecrets]

Thanks, welcome to the channel!

[@raftom4454]

Great video. My only question is, in the beginning, shouldn't you call it a Neapolitan 6th instead of a tritone substitute? Although they have the same notes the functions are different. Classically N6 goes to the dominant, as happens in this piece, while in jazz the tritone usually goes directly to the tonic.

[@SonataSecrets]

Yes, I meant to mention that it's the same root as neapolitan but I forgot! My reflex is that the Neapolitan chord is within a classical style, it's supposed to be in first inversion and with no 7th. And I thought tritone substitute has a more general meaning. But it might be a general meaning within classical music in general, but a more specific meaning of being a substitute instead of a dominant in jazz, so then moving on directly as you say. But maybe it could be called a Neapolitan anyway even if it's not 'classicaly pure' like I wrote above, but in this style instead.

[@raftom4454]

@@SonataSecrets Ah, yes, I see how the 7th and the 2nd inversion are not that "classical". But great composers change the rules all the time. :)

[@SonataSecrets]

exactly!

[@kmp5332]

@@SonataSecrets In this video the talented greek musicologist Christos Papageorgiou emphasizes the polyphony this prelude has - a characteristic that almost nobody notices. It's interesting to hear it even if yo don't understand the language. Starts at 4:10 (his words) : "Repetition exists in Bach, there is also in Chopin as a motif, but in late Romanticism repetition is not just the repetition of a simple pattern but has a very strong emotional content so it becomes an obsession - and in fact Rachmaninoff plays here with two ideas". Τοο bad the video isn't in english - his comments and explanations are very interesting.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2Gce6mNlrB6oas

[@krisking2]

Who cares?

[@lionelcharrasse8982]

Great work thank you

[@gxprice]

Excellent analysis, I really enjoyed it, thanks😊 Just one observation I must make. Your narrative near the end of the analysis "Maybe we can change fate? No, I'm sorry, it's in play..." together with your sense of timing is one of the funniest things I've ever heard you say 😂

[@nicholasbouloukos]

Wonderful!

[@peethedelund4089]

To me the "Bells" in this piece is the chords rather than the bass. Bells have a completely different overtone series than string or wind instruments. Which gives them their somewhat out of place and slighty eerie timbre. And the fact that the upper chords in the piece has this weird voicing with the third as the lowest note taken together with, that the chord voices runs in parallel (more or less), gives a strong resemblence to a melody played on bells. That is, at least to me. 😊 Love you analysis, interpretation and narration. Keep up the brilliant work, it's such a pleasure! 🤩 Very inspiring.

[@corradoforza]

Amazing 🤩

[@kldimond]

REALLY enjoyed this! This, with its 'devil's interval' (tritone), has always been a favorite. I see it, however, as condemnation and pleading, but hey, ...

[@martsiimer2819]

Thank you very much for the insightful video. Just to mention: I prefer, in music theory class, to call the 3rd beat chord an extended version of Neapolitan 6, not TT substitution, and the reason is the unique melodic interval that Neap6 brings about: diminished 3th (d natural going to b sharp). But it probably is okay to say that indeed the extension of Neap6 is a step towards TT substitution because of the two common notes. Anyway, thanks again, i found a lot of useful infomation in the video.

[@luutzennijdam7213]

The first 3 chords in words: We will die! (LOUD) ... But we don't want too(ppp)... WE WILL DIE ... but this is very scary(ppp) .... WE WILL DIE... The way we were(B. Streisand): what's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget.

[@caterscarrots3407]

That place where you mention the bass note and the chord being on the same beat, I don't even play that first chord of the bar, but the second eighth note I do play because I know it's impossible to have 4 octaves and still play the bass and melody simultaneously.

[@Anaprophet]

For me, this work sounds like a battle between a fatalist and a voluntarist. We would like to change something, we are gnawing the earth, trying our best... We think we can. But this should remain unanswered. The invisible hand of fate will not give us a single opportunity for a positive answer, for a good end. I feel this opus like this

[@tigeschig3000]

Nice one, I would love to hear you analyse Rachmaninoff Polka de WR.

[@jonathanreeves8836]

These pieces don’t give me goose bumps but it’s astonishing which is what I think every time I try it on the keyboard despite the pressure it holds on solid fake keys that can be played but has serious limitations no matter what song players know how to play classical or not.

[@official_javaLand]

Well done. Maybe next Shubert importu no.4?

[@adelaolivero9966]

I played the 1st movement when I was young. Now I am 83 and trying to remember what I completely forgot. 🙄

[@jonathanreeves8836]

It’s a piano grade level 10 song that requires practice and interpretation. It also takes minor nuance, soft fingering but not to hard and intelligence is another key to playing it smart.

[@keithkunikida1222]

Also the part where it goes fff with thundering chords, how do I practice that and make it fast

[@VicCampbell1]

Henrik - what an excellent video!! Thank you!! I am a lower intermediate pianist trying to learn this piece. Any tips, please, on how to speed up the "martellato" section please! It has to be played fortississimo (FFF!) AND fast!! 1) Should I start at a very slow tempo with a metronome, then increase by 1 beat each time until I can play it perfectly? 2) often to play fast, one has to keep fingers close to the keys. But to get the power of the FFF and martellato, presumably one has to lift hands away from the keys more? 3) any other advice please?! Many thanks again!! Vic 👍😁🎹

[@texaswildcat6425]

I'm right there with ya. His video came at a very opportune time to me as well and it has answered many of my questions. I'm still definitely slogging through. Best of luck with this piece I'm sure you're learning it wonderfully. God Bless 💐

[@nlorenzini]

Desperation. Exactly

[@tyennatim1]

Excellent, I can't escape the bell like qualities of the work, that slight discordance of those booming bells, did he live near a cathedral? Thanks again.

[@komitaskomitaskomitas]

He did

[@jacquelinebencke7927]

What is it about this prelude that reminds me of Schubert's Erlkonig? That harmonic tension, the driving harmonic rhythm, intensifying, taking some last breaths at the end, only to succumb to death....

[@My_Legs_Are_OK]

Doom metal before metal. Awesome piece and fun video too.

[@PianoDawg1620]

Amazing! Can you make one of these on the Brahms Intermezzo Op.119 No.1

[@SonataSecrets]

I have it on my list actually, hopefully in the autumn.

[@PianoDawg1620]

@@SonataSecrets Thank you so much!

[@kaboozle]

I consider it the high point of my piano playing ability that I performed this piece by heart at age 17. In my mind I never topped it. But I was never as fluid as you are just playing excerpts. So I guess I wasn’t conservatory material after all. I ended up not even applying and sometimes I wondered what could have been. I guess I have part of my answer. On a side note, I have found the sheet music and I’m gonna give it another go. Not much muscle memory left 35 years later tho. 😮

[@Tuckervic]

I love these videos, any chance you could do Etude Tableaux Op39. No 1 C minor?....Please

[@Ciubix8513]

Great video, what piece is next? prelude in G minor?

[@SonataSecrets]

I'm practicing on that one!

[@petertarsio7168]

You about C diminished chord and building dominant chords on each of the tones C Eb Gb A so you get C7 Eb7 Gb7 and A7.

[@JoshuaM47644]

My friend Ronald said that there's nothing more strange than the technique you used to play this piece, the way that you're dressed here and the sound of your voice. He thinks you should play it more like Rachmaninoff.

[@fernandamorato8583]

❤️❤️❤️

[@atmadeepmukherjee5550]

0:09 "Ready for some drama?"

[@alejandroluisportelabongio2680]

this channel is incredible, your explanations are very clear and dynamic. I love your interpretation of hope and destiny, this work is very sad, and I am surprised by the magic of music, that although musicians can play music so intense and deep, we feel pleasure when we play it, like killing ourselves. I feel in the middle section, because of the rhythm, like the two songs will fight, like they don't want to accept fate, like a crisis that takes up, in this imposing way, the first song, it's somewhat heavy, I feel like an indestructible wall. , heavy, incredible musical poetry by rachmaninoff. Can you analyze and play the elegy?

[@wobblyorbee279]

19 YEAR OLD? that's so mature for composing THAT piece,

[@RivaGabri27]

Hi can you do the liebestraum n.3 from liszt?

[@SonataSecrets]

It's definately on my long list for the future!

[@SonataSecrets]

Liszt Liebestraum no. 3 is out now: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5CkeqCFjMafaLs

[@mikedaniels3009]

Is it wrong to play the same triads in both hands?

[@keithkunikida1222]

11:37 How do I practice this? This is the part where everyone in my house starts to nag about bcuz of fff and sffff

[@keithkunikida1222]

Please note that I love all these pieces, it’s just that I have people who are unable to enjoy classical music. I love this piece so much but the ending is just too loud for them.

[@SonataSecrets]

Here you need to practice positions, so moving the hands between the registers and finding the right position for the chords before you play. Even start with only the high chords to find the comfortable positions, and then mix in the low octaves inbetween.

[@keithkunikida1222]

Thank you sonata secrets, I started watching your videos two months ago and you have helped me understand the music even more. Thank you and keep up with more content, you will always have me as a subscriber

[@keithkunikida1222]

@@SonataSecrets the problem is I don’t want to give them a wrong idea or impression of the music, that’s why I had to practice in the original dynamics

[@gracemember101]

I have understood that Rachmanoff had sold that piece to a publisher and so never saw a dime in royalties for it sale. Therefore it's popularity irked him all his adult life.

[@pianistas2341]

MAKE LA CAMPANELLA MUSIC TUTORIAL PLEASE

[@mikehughes6582]

You mentioned a mistake in the sheet music. Aren't there recordings of Rachmaninoff playing this piece?

[@SonataSecrets]

Yes, he plays D-sharp!

[@mikehughes6582]

@@SonataSecrets thank you.

[@garydmcgath]

Thank you! But I'm afraid I can't find any sign of hope in the piece.

[@Walnutpaste]

how did 8 people watch this video and say “yeah i don’t like this video whatsoever”

[@edgeplay4205]

Are you telling me that this is how you play the piece for yourself ? You do listen to Rachmaninov's recording, so you know what else he does that is not written in the score but which gives the piece emotional power. I cannot believe you would be satisfied as a musician to play this piece the way you showed it. I look forward to a second edition of this video.

[@billligon4005]

Why, Why, Why is this music with all of the crazy accidentals - so ‘EASY’ to motorize?

[@pegas203]

💀

[@keithkunikida1222]

You must know how much everyone hates this piece cuz of fff

[@SonataSecrets]

Oh I'm sorry about that :/ You can do some important practice without the fff but yeah that's part of the effect of this music....

[@robbes7rh]

This piece carries some baggage by din of its popularity. I can understand Rachmaninoff growing tired of someone in the audience calling out "C#" at each concert as if he were a trained monkey cranking a hurdy gurdy.. But, as you say, the music itself is so stunningly beautiful and expressive that it simply transcends its association with philistines. Surprisingly, in many recordings of this prelude the performance/interpretation is just awful. It's like they are overly anxious to give it some pizzaz and they end up botching the opportunity for expression by deploying extreme tempi and awkward phrasing that kills the magic this music is meant to conjure. Finding the right way to play it is a sacred quest that shouldn't be undertaken lightly.

[@semperreg]

So stupid explanation ! I play it every morning as a warm up and there is nothing dark or hope inside ! Maybe it depends about your soul : mine is not dark! compared to yours !

[@007gunlogo]

Semperreg: If you hear nothing dark in this work, then you should give up on playing, as you truly have no ear or feel for music.

[@adamsmith7058]

@@007gunlogo Lol. Kinda harsh, but I can't fail to concur and agree with your summation completely. Rachmaninov is dark as hell here. For my part, I rearranged this piece with Berlin Cinematic Horns and some analog synth horns, then added some drum and bass beats underneath. Complete sacrilege in the eyes of many, but useful for scaring the c--p out of my cat