SKU: HL.51481206
UPC: 888680012991. 9.0x12.0x0.147 inches.
Rachmaninoff wrote his well-known piano cycle in 1931, at a time when his great works for piano solo and the piano concertos had already made him very famous. Yet it is by no means the “work of an old manâ€. The composerÂ’s variations on the theme “La folia†(taken from a sonata by Corelli) are like a series of fireworks on the piano. He once drily said to a friend, “All this mad running about is necessary in order to efface the themeâ€. Did Rachmaninoff succeed in silencing “la folia†– i.e. the “madnessâ€? Why not seefor yourself!
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SKU: HL.51481581
UPC: 196288206972. 9.25x12.0x0.097 inches.
The toccata genre has undergone great change since BachÂ’s time. Originally denoting works of recitative or improvisatory character, since the 19th century the emphasis has been on a continuous pulsating rhythm. In ProkofievÂ’s masterpiece, composed in 1912, this rhythm grows into a hammering motoric drive that dispenses with developed themes or motifs. That which seems fascinating and enthralling to us today came as a shock to the critics of that time. But there were also proponents such as Prokofiev's friend Nikolai Myaskovsky, who wrote of the Toccata: “It is a fiendishly clever thing, edgy, energetic and full of personalityâ€. Besides the printed editions that appeared during Prokofiev's lifetime we also had the autograph at our disposal for this Urtext edition. Yulianna Avdeeva, a master of virtuoso piano music, has been responsible for the fingerings.
