The voicing, the phrasing, the harmony, the skeketon, the bass line, the rhythm, the hidden melodies, the imagination...you leave nothing aside!!! You are the absolute musician! All the passion that comes out of your voice and your movements is dominating throughout the whole video! Like a powerful struggle to get us deep into the soul of this magnificent masterpiece! I watched this breathlessly... Once again thank you so much for these extremely useful videos! You are my favorite!!!
Hello Demian, I am so touched to read your generous, articulate, and comprehensive words about the videos! Your beautiful acknowledgements are very meaningful and as appreciated as always. 🙏The charts and teaching videos are labors of love to make. Your words "the passion that comes out of your voice and movements ... like a powerful struggle to get us deep into the soul of this magnificent masterpiece" encourage me to continue with this work. 🎵With very best wishes and blessings to you. 🦋
my goodness Sally thank you so much for this wonderful collection of Studies they are absolutely marvelous!! When you do a collection of a composer's works it increases the depths of the studies and gives a deeper insight into the composer and his works, please continue you are so wonderful
Thank you, Dan, for your wonderful words! Yes, it has been a tremendous learning experience for me to explore in further depth this entire cycle. You are correct that doing a complete collection gives a deeper perspective & understanding into the mind of the composer, and of the interweaving threads that bind the cycle together. I have loved being immersed in this project, and appreciate your encouragement to continue on the path! Best wishes to you!
Dear Sally, I can barely express how grateful I am for this instruction you have shared with the world; not only because it has helped me learn and perform this glorious music (I have learned 11 preludes from the cycle thus far), but because it makes me profoundly happy knowing that someone else on this small blue planet shares the depth of feeling that I do for Rachmaninoff’s Preludes...a masterpiece of masterpieces. They hold a special place in our hearts, it seems. Learning all 24 will take me several more years, I am sure, but I will never forget your insightful, passionate teaching. On a personal note, I was touched by your story about the vultures above Mt. Tam. I was raised high in the Berkeley Hills and had a clear view of Mt. Tam from childhood home. In fact, I could see the mountain, and the majestic hawks and vultures that soar above the entirety of San Francisco Bay Area, through the window from my seat at the piano as my small hands first learned to play. I discovered your videos last year, a full two decades after moving out of that Berkeley home; but to hear that you know of the same mountain, the same soaring birds, and the same passion for Sergei’s genius compositions...is music to my ears. Thank you.
Dear Michael, thank you for your very wonderful message about the teaching videos for the Opus 32 Preludes! I am so touched to know that the lessons helped you learn and perform so many of these magnificent preludes. Your words about Rachmaninoff are powerful, and the depth of feelings you have for this music moves and inspires me. Congratulations for having learned so many of the preludes already. Learning all 24 is a daunting task, and will be a major life accomplishment. I also read with fascination how you were raised in the Berkeley Hills, and watched the same majestic hawks and turkey vultures that fly in our skies with Mt. Tam visible from all directions. I never tire of watching their graceful flight and hearing their cries. I will remember your words about them and about Rachmaninoff for many years to come. With all best wishes and blessings to you on your journey with music and with your communing with Rachmaninoff!
Dearest Sally, Thank you so much for providing us with your knowledge and analysis. I completely agree with you, when we are touched by a transcendent energy, we are forever changed. As a Christian monk, I can speak to many mystical experiences I've had which do transcend any one religion, and as a concert pianist, I can speak to the transformative power of Rachmaninoff being akin to the mystical transformations themselves. What a close connection there is between this Transcendent Energy and the musical mind you expose to us here. Thank you so very much. And many blessings and much peace for your life, I pray. Do continue, please, to enlighten us, as it is a true joy to hear and see your enthusiasm for this glorious music. Peace and be well. +++
Dear Br. Will Green O.S.B., I am so touched to read your exquisite comment and your insightful words about the transcendent quality of Rachmaninoff’s music. You have beautifully expressed the mystical experiences that are possible through playing and listening deeply to this music. I also very much appreciate your generous acknowledgements about the lesson and analysis. Thank you for your encouragement to continue with this work. 🙏 I wish you peace and blessings as well on your musical and spiritual journey. 🎵
I am slightly "obsessed" by this prelude - it is magnificent. Your insights and playing, Sally, are remarkable and listening to you, I realised just how integrated the whole prelude is. Plus you pointed out "hidden" references to the C# prelude and 6-5-1 theme I hadn't even noticed ! Rachmaninov really pulled out the stops in this prelude and pushed the boundaries even by his own standards- particularly harmonically. The two measures with the rocking theme are fiendishly difficult - I wonder how Rachmaninov even conceived them. Thank you.
Hello legendofcha, and thank you for your much appreciated words! I am delighted to hear that this video has inspired you to return to your keyboard, and I wish you much joy as you play once again!
It's so amazing that a pianist like you do teaching videos on here. I can totally feel your passion on music and I feel that you want to share and like to teach. Thanks god you are here.
Hello CRB, thank you for your generous message! I am passionate about the Opus 32 Preludes. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be able to give these lessons and make the companion engravings. Your words are a beautiful gift!
i love how passionate and sincere you are during the whole video. i am also truly moved by this greatness and it is something to which i want to live for. thanks a lot!!!
Hello rykestr, thank you so much for your beautiful and generous acknowledgement about this video and presentation! You are very welcome, it is my pleasure. I also live for this music, and your words about "passion and sincerity" mean a great deal to me. 🙏 I wish you much joy and fulfillment with this great music and with your own musical journey! 🎵
Hello Hannes, thank you so much for your beautiful and much appreciated words about this video. 💕 You are welcome, it is my pleasure. With all best wishes to you.
Loved this lesson, particularly how you analyzed the music while leaving us in suspense until the very end. All the time you were saying, "See--Rachmaninoff is dropping another clue here", I was excited to try to guess towards what end this piece was going. It took me almost two thirds of the way through the lesson, when I did guess (correctly, it turns out!) Even with the [I don't know how many HUNDREDS of] hours I have spent learning this piece over 40 years, I think I have today literally doubled my understanding, thanks to you! I will never hear, or play, this piece the same way again. This is how this magnificent music rewards the love we give to it.
Hello Jonathan, Your powerful message has filled me with profound gratitude. Thank you for every word you have said. Unlocking the mysteries of this triumphant prelude was the result of decades of study, performing, and relearning the piece through repeated cycles. It was ultimately, though, in making the chart package and preparing the lesson that my understanding of the piece came into clear focus. That this knowledge was imparted to you with a new understanding, hearing, and playing of the piece is a very sweet reward and blessing. I wish you all the best, and many joy-filled hours with this prelude and every piece you play!
I'm so grateful for finding your videos, you're such a pleasant person to hear and you've got so much to teach! It upsets me not having the oportunity to learn piano as a child, all I could afford was learning the guitar by myself. Today I turned 21 and for the last 2 or 3 years I've been really interested in classical music, studying some modern arrangements for electric guitar or "neo classical" as some people call it, but the piano seems to be so much superior when it comes to this kind of music. I'll end up giving myself a digital piano for my birthday this year and I hope someday I become good at it.
Happy 21st Birthday Felix! Thank you for your very kind words. I completely encourage you to buy yourself an electronic keyboard (full size) and begin piano lessons. You have the desire to learn, and there are many wonderful pieces that will soon be within your reach. I hope you find a teacher that will help guide you well towards this worthy goal. I am pulling for you!
Hello BercyGW2, thank you very much for your acknowledging & appreciated words! It was a privilege and a labor of love to make these teaching & performance videos for the magnificent Opus 32 Preludes. All best wishes to you!
It's amazing how many times the motive of 6 - 5 - 1 (scale degrees) appears! And I never would have recognized all of them if you hadn't pointed them out so carefully. Thank you!
Hi James! Thanks for commenting on this element of the VI - V - I harmonic progression that he uses liberally throughout the cycle. It surprised me, too, as I began to uncover just how many times he uses it!
after years and years of listening this piece that I love so much, I started to learn it some days ago. I have just to tell you that your interpretation is the most deep I ever heard. I think only few pianists are near the heart of this composition and one of the two are you. you are in a good company, the other is a ‘giant’ with an enormous repertoire but in this piece he reach one of the greatest peak of his art of interpretation: he is vladimir ashkenazy. I’m just trying a different fingering in the ‘famous’ 8 bars of fhe final ‘grave’ to play the upper theme as much legato I can. I have to play some octaves with 1-3 followed by 1-5. I prefer to slide with my thumb in case. or to slide with the 2nd finger in others but I can fix the hand on the upper note played with the 3rd finger then 5th legato. it’s so difficult this piece but I have time and passion, and your wonderful lesson here is full of details and will help me a lot. you are a very deep pianist. love you! your execution is rich, powerfull,?contemplative and in a perfect tempo. thanks!
Hello I am what I am, I am deeply touched to read your wonderful words about this lesson and the interpretation. You are gracious and thoughtful to describe in detail how this lesson will help you. Your careful work with fingerings will serve you well. Most of all, your love for this piece will be a driving force that keeps you motivated when encountering the difficulties of this formidable piece. I am also a big fan of Vladimir Ashkenazy's playing of the Opus 32 Preludes. All of us who have the privilege of attempting and playing this monumental concluding prelude are indeed fortunate and blessed. With very best wishes to you and your journey with the piano.
Hello Sueci, thank you for your thoughtfulness and for your enthusiastic words. I hope you enjoy the journey through this amazing & concluding prelude! Best wishes to you!
Well, I finally had some time to watch the entire masterpiece of the 13th prelude enfold. You are an amazing teacher and performer. I enjoyed it very much. One of these days, I will definitely try using some of your charts. Right now, I'm in the process of going through the levels of the Royal Conservatory Program. I'm still in the late Intermediate sections but hopefully one day I will be playing music in the advanced levels. Thanks so much for all of your hard work and I will take your advice and pass it on to my students. Breathe and let your feelings go into the music that you are playing.
Thank you so much, Sueci, for your heartfelt words about this piece and the lesson. You are so right, Prelude No. 13 is a masterpiece, and preparing the lesson was a labor of love. I'm glad you will be encouraging your students to always "breath with the phrases and allow their feelings to merge with the music." I wish you joy with every step of your musical journey!
Hello Mar, and thank you for your wonderful comment. I really appreciate your enthusiasm for this lesson on Rachmaninoff's magnificent and concluding Prelude No. 13!
Most don’t have the technique to play this symphonic summation fast...weissenberg plays it somewhat faster and it sounds great! Usually we get slowwww and plodding cause the pianist is terrified
Hello Student of the Word, thank you (belatedly) for your refreshing words about this performance. I appreciate your open-minded thinking that allows for different interpretations of this piece. As you know from playing it yourself, it takes great courage, technique, and reverence to play this formidable piece. You set an admirable example for everyone with your supportive and generous attitude. With all best wishes to you!
Hello Snail Musk, Thank you so much for your wonderful enthusiasm for this video! I really appreciate your warm response. BTW: Congratulations to you on playing so well (and for memory!) the Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 Finale! 🎉 All best wishes to you with your playing and musical journey. 🎵
@@SallyChristianMusic Oh Jeez. I barely managed to hobble that one together lol. I worked very hard on his Moment Musicaux No. 6. I wanna try to upload that soon. But truly, your video is stupendous. I'm going to be using it as my main study tool for when I tackle this piece. What I would give to have a teacher like you.
@@snailmusk9468 Thank you for your beautiful words about this video. I'm so glad you will try this majestic prelude, and that you will consult this tutorial as a guide for you. While I cannot be an in-person teacher for you, I can be your "teacher from afar" through these video lessons. 🎵 I look forward to hearing your Moment Musicaux No. 6 when it is uploaded. If you like, you can send me the link via a comment on any of my videos so I and others can watch it! 😊
Hello Sooyeon, thank you for your generous words of acknowledgement about this lecture and document. I hope you enjoy working from your New Layout Chart, and I wish you much success playing this magnificent prelude!
The final statement of the main theme at almost the very end contain chords that can't be played as written unless you have large hands as Rachmaninoff did. The pianist here breaks these massive chords into two played twice as fast as the written chord. Some pianists instead just omit one of the notes retaining a doable single chord. A minor point but Rachmaninoff probably knew what he was doing here saying you probably can't play this but I can. Thanks for the video, a long haul, but I learned new things about this piece and I've been playing it (or trying to) for 40 years.
Hello William, thank you for your nice words, and interesting observations about some of the approaches to playing the huge chords at the end. Very few pianists have the large hands that Rachmaninoff had. It probably came quite naturally for him to write what he could easily play, leaving most of us to come up with resourceful ways around the challenges! I'm glad the lesson gave you a few more insights, especially since you have become very familiar with it from 40 years of playing this towering masterpiece! All best wishes to you!
Hello, and many thanks for your very nice comment! Your question as to which piece is next is a good one, and is still being determined. I am presently learning & preparing engravings for another group of Bach Inventions & Sinfonias, as well as some "surprise" pieces! I appreciate your continuing interest and support!
Hello Robert, thank you for asking about the next video posting. I'm seriously & lovingly preparing some surprise pieces now, as well as another group of Bach Inventions and Sinfonias. Learning and memorizing each piece and making the companion charts is a long slow process. I'm hoping to begin video recording this summer. Thanks for your interest and your patience!
Great to hear. I've been subscribing to your channel with my other account for a while but subscribed with this one to make it easier to follow without re-loging. I was a bit worried seeing the last video was posted 4 months ago. Glad you're fine. Someone might prefer different kind of performance or a way of being but you explain everything so clearly and your charts are a great help, too. Great work!
I wonder if Rachmaninoff had Rimsky-Korsakov's "Song of India" on his mind when he wrote this Prelude. The soprano in the A major section reminds me of it.
Hi James! Good pick up in hearing the similarities of the chromatic melodic fragment (preceded by a longer tied note a 3rd above!) that both of these pieces have. Perhaps Rachmaninoff was influenced, if even on a subconscious level, although the similarities end with the more deliberate slow triplets he chooses along with the eerie mood of the surrounding harmonies.
Thank you for a great look into Rachmaninoff's final prelude. I would love for you to perform and delve into Scriabin Sonatas or Scriabin character pieces! Thoughts on Scriabin??
Hello, and many thanks for your acknowledgement about this final prelude lesson! Scriabin is near and dear to my heart. I programmed Scriabin's 7th Sonata on my Master's Degree Recital decades ago, and have done many other of his works. Making engravings and teaching videos of this dense and multi staffed music would be a difficult and challenging undertaking, but I am drawn to the idea. Thank you for the intriguing suggestion. We shall see ...!
I am working on a notation I developed over the years I call Piano Tablature. it is difficult to see where your fingers are placed as you perform and Piano Tablature makes it more clear, I was wondering if you would be interested in seeing what I am doing. Again thank you so much for your marvelous work
Hi Dan, I would be interested in seeing your Piano Tablature. Please email me a link or attachment to either my SallyChristianMusic website or to my RU-vid channel private messages. Thank you!
Just great - gave you just a thumb up!Can I give you a feedback to improve your videos? Just mean the best for you :-).Your messages and suggestions are so good. ALso you have such a great grand piano. Incredible! But... the microphone of your camera is overdriven. The piano sounds much too strong the weak microphone. It's almost too hard in the basses. Microphone problem.I guess best would be if you could record the piano and your voice seperatly. Mixing the signals then go to input of the videocamera.Why you don't visit a music store where they sell microphones, mixing consoles. They might can help you.So - please don't be angry - I just want the best for you :-)All the best!
