Over time, I find it starting to overtake 3 as my favourite! Unfortunately it was only written in the final revision of the score, but the interrupted cadence at the end of the first movement is probably my favourite ever, there's something just so perfect about it for a cadence I'd generally consider done to death.
That interrupted cadence in rach 4 is especially cool and creative because he uses what the jazz people call tritone substituition for the dominant chord (in this case, Fb dominant seventh substituting Bb dominant seventh, root a tritone apart). That makes for a more unexpected and even more deceptive cadence, because the previous chord had so many attraction towards the tonic Eb major, includind the root fb which is aching to resolve a halfstep down. So nice!!
Absolutely! The guide tones (G#/Ab + D natural) are the same so the harmony can function in the same way (dominant), but with the Fb (instead of Bb) creating a bigger pull to the Eb, which, while delivered upon, is subversively recontextualised as the 3rd of a C minor harmony. Rachmaninov truly was a master composer, and fairly jazz when he put his mind to it!
They really are wonderful. The Rachmaninov was a great discovery for me, a bit odd at first, but I enjoy it more every time I listen to it, and it might just overtake 3 as my favourite soon...
Go listen to the 2nd movement of Barber's Piano Concerto- it is, in my opinion, equal to or greater than the adagio. Simply and astonishingly beautiful.
I know about the Moszkowski & Paderewski, I just haven't gotten around to listening to them yet. Tveitt I haven't heard about at all, I've be sure to check it out, thank you for the recommendations!
i wanted to learn a movement of a rach concerto for my schools concerto competition, and i chose the first mvt of four cuz i think everyone needs to hear it, at the very least its worth it just for the amazing ending imo, but the whole movement is so beautiful and contrasting, i love every second of it!
I listened to Shchedrin's 3rd & 4th Piano Concerti, and I must be honest, I struggled with them both. I found the 3rd one easier, perhaps due to it being shorter, and I love the use of instrumental colour and timbre. At times though, baring in mind these are my impressions only from a single listen, I found them monotonous at times, particularly No. 4. Now, I hear a strong compositional voice, but perhaps my aversion is just due to a thorny first impression. For me, the 4th concerto feels like a sustaining strings and twinkly piano writing, and I just need a little more variety in its texture. I do recognise it changes, I just wish it had a bigger contrast. Now, this is all just a first impression, I will continue to listen with open ears to more of Shchedrin's music, because I do believe that with a bit of time, I can learn to really love it. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
@@Willow_Ramsay_Music Your reactions to both concertos is reasonable. The 4th is quasi-minimalist, thus the sense of harmonic monotony. If you like more contrasts then try his 2nd concerto, although I would probably start with movements 2 and 3.
@@pianoschool4955 Thank you so much for introducing me to such a unique composer though! I've heard great things of the 2nd Concerto, and I am very keen to keep on listening!
Excellent choices, with which I agree. I am dying to perform the Barber. I made my own arrangement of the slow movement as a solo piece. Conductors seem to be afraid of the piece. It’s usually only performed by professional orchestras. I personally think Bronfman and Pollini play Bartók 2 better than Geza Anda. Just my opinion. I loved playing Prokofiev 2 in competitions. I think the first movement of Rach 4 is wonderful, and tuneful. The finale is weak, in my opinion, and Rach felt the same, his revisions were brutal in their cuts.
That's really interesting! For Prok 2, I could've picked the cadenza from the first movement, but (as you can tell) I chose the ending of the third movement, with that beautiful cacophony of machine-like noise. In future, when my technique is up to it, I would love to perform it (actually, I'd love to play all of them). The Barber is only a recent discovery of mine, I came across it while consuming Bartók's music on RU-vid. I listened to it, and it really hit me, so now I love the piece dearly, I just wish Barber wrote more piano music! My goal was picking a few lesser known concerti (i.e. Rach 4 over 2, Prok 2 over 3) and picking out a few moments I enjoyed most, and while I was tempted to pick a few other pieces (most notably the two Ravel concerti), I thought they might be a bit, well, I hesitate to say obvious, but they are definitely more well known. I do agree that finale in Rach 4 overall is a little weak, it doesn't feel quite as substantial as the other movements. This leaves the concerto feeling a little lopsided for me. While flawed, it is a wonderful work that deserves more attention. Over time, I find myself preferring 4 more and more. Thank you for the comment!
@@Willow_Ramsay_Music Thomas, I made a point to learn all of Barber’s mature solo piano works in 2010. It was the 100th anniversary of his birth, and two hundred for Chopin. I alternated composers by playing a Ballade and Nocturne by each, as well as the Barber Sonata (which is his masterpiece). The Excursions are good and recommended. Very American sounding. I happen to prefer the Concerto above all other pieces by him, but the Sonata is still a great piece and popular in the US. You have good taste and I hope to hear you play all of those pieces one day! The Barber Concerto should be more mainstream, but it only is occasionally heard these days. When John Browning was alive, he played it everywhere. I bought a copy of the score in Moscow for 10 cents! Barber somehow managed to secure Soviet copyrights for his music and was one of the few outsiders to have his music sold there and he got paid.
@@danielgloverpiano7693 That tidbit about Barber's Soviet copyrights is super interesting, actually. I've listened to all of his solo piano music, and I love it dearly. I do wish he used more of that quasi-Bartók style that I believe the piano concerto, the piano sonata & the middle section of the Ballad though. His "wrong-note" romanticism is super lovely, it's a shame he didn't utilise it more often. (Same goes for his pseudo-nationalism in the Excursions, one of my dear friends performed the 3rd movement and it's just gorgeous, and can be found here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-j-UF53H91Ew.htmlfeature=shared I'll have to check out your recordings of Barber's (and Chopin's) works. Thank you for replying!
I am only just starting to explore Medtners music- haven't gotten to the concerti yet but I have a feeling that I will probably have to include them in a future volume at some point!
Personally, I am still coming to grips with the Brahms concerti- maybe it may just take more time and maturity to really "get it". Maybe eventually they'll be favourites, but for now, I'm still trying.
@@Willow_Ramsay_Music oh I know what you mean. I even went to a live performance of Brahms 2nd concerto recently, to see if that would do it for me, but nope. Left me cold.
