Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 03/27/2012, uploaded on 03/27/2012

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

The étude, or study piece, was already a common element in piano instruction by the beginning of the 19^th century. Its early champions were Clementi and Czerny, today practically household names for any student of the piano. Yet, it was not until Frédéric Chopin that the étude was elevated from its original mere didactic purpose to also being an outlet for the composer’s creativity. In a sense, it became as much a “study piece” for the composer as the pianist, with a virtually blank canvas for him to exercise, grapple with, and expand his knowledge of his craft and its means of execution in performance. Chopin’s example was followed by many, and within the passing of a century, the étude seemed to expand once again to take on the additional task of programmatic music with the composition of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s two sets of Etudes-Tableaux, opp. 33 and 39, composed in 1911 and 1916-17, respectively. Unlike other composers of programmatic music, Rachmaninoff did not reveal the images he had in mind when composing these sets, believing that the composer should not divulge too much of his method of creativity, but instead preferred for the listener to paint his own picture from what he hears.

Rachmaninoff composed the latter set of études, opus 39, concurrent with an intense study of the music of Alexander Scriabin as part of his preparation for a recital in the deceased composer’s honor. Though his performance of Scriabin’s music was critically panned, it sparked a new direction of creativity, making opus 39 markedly different from its predecessor. Apart from this shift towards an angular melodic style and harmonic dissonance, opus 39 is also more technically challenging than opus 33. Indeed, it possible to look on its nine constituent pieces as more études than tableaux. Each piece is extremely virtuosic and requires of the pianist a near Herculean strength to perform effectively. Incidentally, opus 39 was also the last piece Rachmaninoff composed before leaving his native Russia. In 1929, four pieces from opus 39 (nos. 2, 6, 7, and 9) and one from opus 33 (no. 7) were, with the composer’s blessing, orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi. Respighi reordered the five études but provided each with descriptive titles he devised from what Rachmaninoff told him of the images he had in mind during their composition.       Joseph DuBose

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 Etude-Tableaux, Op, 39, No. 5 in e-flat minor    Sergei Rachmaninov

Rachmaninoff wrote two sets of Etude-Tableaux, or "Picture Etudes" and each is a short character piece, which captures a particular mood or image. The Op. 39 set was published in 1917 and was Rachmaninoff's last major work written in Russia, before leaving for the West.       Igor Lovchinsky

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.