Études-Tableaux, Op. 39

Rachmaninoff in front of a giant Redwood tree in California, 1919

The Études-Tableaux ("study paintings"), Op. 39, is the second of two sets of piano études composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Op. 39 was composed sometime between 1916 and 1917[1] and were among the final works composed by Rachmaninoff before his exit from Russia.[2]

Structure

The Op. 39 set comprises nine études:

  1. Allegro agitato in C minor ("The Sea"), a study in arpeggiated "swirls"
  2. Lento assai in A minor ("The Sea and the Seagulls")
  3. Allegro molto in F minor ("The Day of Wrath"), a study targeting the weak fingers of the hand
  4. Allegro assai in B minor ("Dying Birds") a fusion of a Hopak and a Gavotte which functions as a study on repeated notes[3][4]
  5. Appassionato in E minor, a study in octaves
  6. Allegro in A minor ("Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf"), a study in repeated notes and jumps[5]
  7. Lento lugubre in C minor ("Funeral March"), based on the painting Self-Immolation by Grigoriy Myasoyedov, a study in thick chords and luminous bell sounds[6]
  8. Allegro moderato in D minor, based on the painting A Road in the Rye by Grigoriy Myasoyedov, a lyrical study in double notes which quotes Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 5 near the end[7][8]
  9. Allegro moderato. Tempo di marcia in D major, a study in jumps, octaves and repeated notes

Arrangements

Recordings

See also

References

Sources

Performances