The way you talk about music is amazing! I love how your not just focusing on the harmonic and melodic features etc (though incredibly detailed and useful) but also the effects it has which is fascinating. Most valuable music analysis out there thank you. Currently watching all your analysis' to get inspiration for my A level composition.
Wonderful! I've been enchanted by this piece for so long and dreamed about an in-depth analysis but never expected to find one. And here your are and what an analysis! Thank you sir, this work is priceless!
Fantastic interpretation, thanks a lot! This harmonic Bm never lets go! :) There are very good versions by Lugansky (my favorite), Ashkenazy and Pisarenko on youtube. Who are you using here?
Fascinating and absorbing analysis. Thank you. In my mind there are motivic echoes of Tchaikovsky 6th symphony lamentosa which is also b min whose recent death Rachmaninoff felt deeply. Is that stretching comparisons too far?
Could someone kindly explain to me what the purpose of the staccatos above some notes. I've listened to many different versions and no one treats them as staccatos. Could there be a different meaning in this context? I'm interested to know!
Hi Micah. Good question. I interpret those as ‘mezzo-staccato’, or ‘articulated legato’, indicating a certain ‘detachedness’ within the overall legato phrasing (the equivalent of ‘portato’ on a stringed instrument).
You're welcome. There's an amazing (and somewhat idiosyncratic) live performance by Horowitz on UA-cam (Horowitz: A Reminiscence), and Ashish Xiangyi Kumar has a follow-along score with performances by Litvintseva and Giltburg on his channel. I particularly like Lugansky's recording, but it's all very subjective!
I love your analyses in general, and I noticed you mention that it's often interpreted as funerial. I can see that, the bass melody and octaves, reminds me of another piece with similar levels of drama and which originates from a small set of motives, Chopin's Piano Sonata no. 2, specifically the Funeral March movement of it. And I don't know if it's just because of my perfect pitch, but I hear different characters to different keys whenever I improvise and thus whenever I compose, since I basically improvise all my melodies. Here are the ones I hear for each major and minor key: C major: Boring and Fragile(I feel like I have to stick to the C major scale, otherwise I modulate away from C major, but sticking to the C major scale is so boring, so outside of modulations, I don't really use C major as a key) G major: Everyday joy, not my favorite key by any means, but definitely not boring D major: Majestic and regal A major: Happily skipping around, even legato sounds bouncy in this key E major: Joy like never before B major: Kind of stable and kind of not so stable F# major: Jazzy, even without swing rhythm C# major: Eternity Db major: Deep dream Ab major: Starting to dream Eb major: Worry disguised in beauty, as beautiful as the flowers Bb major: Heroic and Joyful when fast, Peaceful and Nocturnal when slow, like moonlight on a lake F major: A constant wanting to flow, like a river A minor: Emotional void(happiness of C major and melancholy of D minor completely cancel out) E minor: Lost in a deep forest B minor: Melancholic mystery F# minor: Most melancholic of all the sharp minors C# minor: Peaceful and Nocturnal G# minor/Ab minor: Mysterious across the entire piano's range Eb minor: Jazzy without swing rhythm Bb minor: Anger and desperation, wants to get back to major, parallel or otherwise F minor: The Key of Death, only really becoming peaceful in treble clef(I used this key for my still unfinished funeral march) C minor: The entire emotional spectrum, everything from happiness to anger to fear to sadness and everything in between G minor: Angry when loud and fast, more emotional variety than a lot of minor keys, but not as much as C minor(Fear for example, I can't pull off as well in G minor as I can in C minor) D minor: Melancholy that can easily be turned around
Yes, definitely agree re the Chopin influence. There's a link to an interesting dissertation on the topic in the description, which I would recommend 👍 It's fascinating how keys can carry associations for some listeners, even with equal temperament. Good luck with the composing/improvising!
You clearly do not understand the process of giving birth to a music piece and "re-birthing" it as a performer. This is brilliant and super instrumental in piano teaching, and music communication.
I really hope that this channel blows up, you deserve every subscriber! Amazing video!!
Thank you! I appreciate it 😊
The way you talk about music is amazing! I love how your not just focusing on the harmonic and melodic features etc (though incredibly detailed and useful) but also the effects it has which is fascinating. Most valuable music analysis out there thank you. Currently watching all your analysis' to get inspiration for my A level composition.
Thanks, Felix! Good luck for the A-Level 💪👍
Amazing analysis - can not wait to have more videos like this. Thank you!
Thank you! ☺️
Wonderful! I've been enchanted by this piece for so long and dreamed about an in-depth analysis but never expected to find one. And here your are and what an analysis! Thank you sir, this work is priceless!
Really glad you liked the analysis! Such a beautiful piece 😊
I was watching this with the sheet music in front of my nose this was beautiful
Fantastic interpretation, thanks a lot! This harmonic Bm never lets go! :)
There are very good versions by Lugansky (my favorite), Ashkenazy and Pisarenko on youtube. Who are you using here?
Thanks! This is Ashkenazy. Love Lugansky’s version as well though of course ☺️👍
Absolutely fantastic. You thoroughly deserve my subscription (and many more to follow)!
Thanks, Vaclav! I appreciate it 😊
Fascinating and absorbing analysis. Thank you.
In my mind there are motivic echoes of Tchaikovsky 6th symphony lamentosa which is also b min whose recent death Rachmaninoff felt deeply. Is that stretching comparisons too far?
Interesting observation. I’d not thought of it before, but listening to them back to back I can definitely hear what you’re getting at!
Hi,
Is that possible to share the analysis for Rakhmaninoff moments musicaux op.16 no. 4 ?
Hi Vishta. Will add to the list. It may take a while, but I’ll get there! 👍
@@trocomposition4216 thank you , eagerly waiting ...
Could someone kindly explain to me what the purpose of the staccatos above some notes. I've listened to many different versions and no one treats them as staccatos. Could there be a different meaning in this context? I'm interested to know!
Hi Micah. Good question. I interpret those as ‘mezzo-staccato’, or ‘articulated legato’, indicating a certain ‘detachedness’ within the overall legato phrasing (the equivalent of ‘portato’ on a stringed instrument).
@@trocomposition4216 Thank you! I've been wondering about that for a long time!
Thank you for your interpretation. I wonder which pianist best captures the mood?
You're welcome. There's an amazing (and somewhat idiosyncratic) live performance by Horowitz on UA-cam (Horowitz: A Reminiscence), and Ashish Xiangyi Kumar has a follow-along score with performances by Litvintseva and Giltburg on his channel. I particularly like Lugansky's recording, but it's all very subjective!
I love your analyses in general, and I noticed you mention that it's often interpreted as funerial. I can see that, the bass melody and octaves, reminds me of another piece with similar levels of drama and which originates from a small set of motives, Chopin's Piano Sonata no. 2, specifically the Funeral March movement of it. And I don't know if it's just because of my perfect pitch, but I hear different characters to different keys whenever I improvise and thus whenever I compose, since I basically improvise all my melodies. Here are the ones I hear for each major and minor key:
C major: Boring and Fragile(I feel like I have to stick to the C major scale, otherwise I modulate away from C major, but sticking to the C major scale is so boring, so outside of modulations, I don't really use C major as a key)
G major: Everyday joy, not my favorite key by any means, but definitely not boring
D major: Majestic and regal
A major: Happily skipping around, even legato sounds bouncy in this key
E major: Joy like never before
B major: Kind of stable and kind of not so stable
F# major: Jazzy, even without swing rhythm
C# major: Eternity
Db major: Deep dream
Ab major: Starting to dream
Eb major: Worry disguised in beauty, as beautiful as the flowers
Bb major: Heroic and Joyful when fast, Peaceful and Nocturnal when slow, like moonlight on a lake
F major: A constant wanting to flow, like a river
A minor: Emotional void(happiness of C major and melancholy of D minor completely cancel out)
E minor: Lost in a deep forest
B minor: Melancholic mystery
F# minor: Most melancholic of all the sharp minors
C# minor: Peaceful and Nocturnal
G# minor/Ab minor: Mysterious across the entire piano's range
Eb minor: Jazzy without swing rhythm
Bb minor: Anger and desperation, wants to get back to major, parallel or otherwise
F minor: The Key of Death, only really becoming peaceful in treble clef(I used this key for my still unfinished funeral march)
C minor: The entire emotional spectrum, everything from happiness to anger to fear to sadness and everything in between
G minor: Angry when loud and fast, more emotional variety than a lot of minor keys, but not as much as C minor(Fear for example, I can't pull off as well in G minor as I can in C minor)
D minor: Melancholy that can easily be turned around
Yes, definitely agree re the Chopin influence. There's a link to an interesting dissertation on the topic in the description, which I would recommend 👍 It's fascinating how keys can carry associations for some listeners, even with equal temperament. Good luck with the composing/improvising!
I dont know how you ppl stay so focused on this type of music in a world of pop music, distracting drama going on, and ppl irritating you
Please stop trying to equate every single musical idea with an occurrance in your life, let music be music.
You clearly do not understand the process of giving birth to a music piece and "re-birthing" it as a performer. This is brilliant and super instrumental in piano teaching, and music communication.
@@dn393939 you're religious and delusional, not a good performer.