Week THREE: Birthday Week!
Hello and welcome to the WEEK THREE Main Thread for this challenge! 
Alright everyone - this is the thread where we'll all be posting our daily updates.
Make sure you've read the rules before replying (<- click)
Twice a week between March 27- April 1, I hope to be reading your daily updates in this very thread right here!
Here is this week's assignment!
Submit a Recording!
This Recording can be of yourself playing some of Rachmaninoff's music, it could be your favorite recording of him playing, or a different pianist playing his music!
We are gathering videos to put together into a collage for this weekend's Watch Party, and Birthday Celebration to honor this great Composer!
Watch Party:
April 1st at 11am Pacific time
https://app.tonebase.co/piano/live/player/pno-rachmaninoff-birthday-celebration
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https://youtu.be/EBMi48Qz0P4
No 5 from Op 16 Six Moments MusicauxIt’s just such a beautiful piece…
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Angela Fogg lovely and thanks for submitting this piece we don't hear often enough.
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Angela Fogg One of my favorites pieces of Rachmaninoff; beautifully and movingly played, Angela!
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Here is my week 3 post of Rachmaninoff’s Daisies piano transcription. This has been a very enjoyable and highly challenging 3 weeks. I have a lot of things to work on still but definitely would not have gotten to even this point so soon on a new Rachmaninoff piece without this challenge. I have really enjoyed listening to everyone’s posts on their pieces and others they like too.
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Vidhya Bashyam I’m so glad you got to post the whole thing! It sounds so dreamy.
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Vidhya Bashyam I'm a bit in awe of your playing! This was so beautiful, Vidhya. I kept thinking I was hearing some shades of Gershwin, and kind of expected the music to go in a different direction than it did - but, the surprises kept me smiling. Thank you for posting.
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Vidhya Bashyam love your languid and alluring playing, not rushing but savouring every note. Very delicious indeed!
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Alice Lin Thanks!
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Michelle R You are too kind Michelle! I agree with you on the shades of Gershwin. Rachmaninoff is always interesting.
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Ching Lee Goh Thanks Ching Lee! I realized after hearing the recording that maybe it should be more lively given the underlying poem, but I think I like it slow and languid
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Vidhya Bashyam Such a lovely piece and such lovely playing!
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Angela Fogg Thank you!
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Vidhya Bashyam Very beautiful, Vidhya! I like this slow tempo too with such gorgeous magnetism!
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This is my video for week three of the Prelude op 32 no 5. I am grateful for this challenge because I feel like it gave me “permission” to play Rachmaninoff as I was never assigned to play his music by a teacher-perhaps because his music is difficult or I have very small hands. It’s still a work in progress but I’ve learned a lot (for myself):
1. I will try not to change editions in the middle of learning a piece. Do some research on different editions and stick one. Sounds obvious, but I did this so I can more easily switch from a paper copy to one I can download onto an iPad.
2. Getting into a “flow state” on camera is a skill that takes practice (still working on this one)3. The simplest things can be the hardest. Still working out out that left hand, to make it flow, not stiff, but not wimpy either.
4. If you have small hands, the usual rules might not work for you. Don’t strain, it won’t sound good. Find another way.
Thanks everyone and i have greatly enjoyed everyone’s submissions as well!
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Alice Lin Very beautiful and delicately played! So glad you played this for the challenge! I agree with all the points you wrote above too.
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Vidhya Bashyam Thank you Vidhya!
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Alice Lin This was lovely - I especially enjoyed the first half where I thought the left-hand accompaniment was really well played. It seemed to allow the right hand to soar. Thank you for sharing this. I don't know much of Rachmaninoff's music, so have been enjoying everyone's submissions as they are mostly new to me.
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lovely sensitive playing! Perhaps you might also try the no 12 prelude from the same opus, with similar broken chords or rolled chords that might be easier on small hands.
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Michelle R Thank you Michelle!
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Ching Lee Goh Thanks Ching Lee! Yes no 12 is definitely on my list as well. A lot of the preludes are fairly doable with smaller hands. And apparently Ashkenazy could only reach a ninth but Rachmaninoff told him he didn’t care, that he can leave some notes out but he still wanted Ashkenazy to perform his music.
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Alice Lin So light and delicate! Not always what we might think of when thinking of Rachmaninoff. Thank you.
I have small hands to - you are right, never strain.
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Angela Fogg Thanks Angela!
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Alice Lin Great playing, full of delicacy and sensitivity!
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Hi all, here's our recording of my wife Kay Hanna playing Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 32 #11. We haven't found anything written about the history of this piece, although apparently many of the Preludes in Opus 32 were inspired by Rachmaninoff's memories of life in Russia. Kay started reading through this Prelude for the first time shortly after the challenge was announced, but most of her actual work-up came in the past week. She believes she has a strong sense of what Rachmaninoff was trying to express in the piece at a musical level, but as yet she has no words for it.
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Randall Wayne Beautiful playing!
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Randall Wayne Absolutely lovely.
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