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Sergei Rachmaninov Etudes Tableaux , No.3 in C minor Nikolai Kuznetsov piano Сергей Рахманинов Этюд-картина ор.33 No.3 до минор Николай Кузнецов (фортепиано) Rachmaninoff composed the Op. 33 Études-Tableaux at his Ivanovka estate in Tambov, Russia between August and September 1911, the year after completing his second set of preludes, Op. 32. While the Op. 33 Études-Tableaux share some stylistic points with the preludes, they are actually not very similar. Rachmaninoff concentrates on establishing well-defined moods and developing musical themes in the preludes. There is also an academic facet to the preludes, as he wrote 24 of them, one in each of the 24 major and minor keys. Rachmaninoff biographer Max Harrison calls the Études-Tableaux “studies in [musical] composition“; while they explore a variety of themes, they “investigate the transformation of rather specific climates of feeling via piano textures and sonorities. They are thus less predictable than the preludes and compositionally mark an advance“ in technique.[2] Rachmaninoff initially wrote nine pieces for Op. 33 but published only six in 1914. One étude, in A minor, was subsequently revised and used in the Op. 39 set; the other two appeared posthumously and are now usually played with the other six. Performing these eight études together could be considered to run against the composer's intent, as the six originally published are unified through “melodic-cellular connections“ in much the same way as in Robert Schumann's Symphonic Studies.[3] Differing from the simplicity of the first four études, Nos. 5–8 are more virtuosic in their approach to keyboard writing, calling for unconventional hand positions, wide leaps for the fingers and considerable technical strength from the performer. Also, “the individual mood and passionate character of each piece“ pose musical problems that preclude performance by those lacking strong physical technique.[3]
