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I'm looking for a doable rachmaninoff. I've never played it before but it my teacher fav composer ! I found one clalled elegie but I'll have to check with my teacher if its doable, are there any other recommendations ?

I would recommend his very early works written when he was around 17-19 years old. They are amazing and doable. I love Elegie but that may be a little harder, but as you said your teacher will know. I play over 30 of his works and he is my favorite after Chopin. I'm currently working on his Prelude, opus 32 G# Minor. There is a lot of Rachmaninoff on You Tube. Ashkenazy plays them beautifully. Here is a link to Prelude, opus 32 G# Minor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13U...;list=PLo9P-mqTaAcL0e7PrKT4_HBBMyyrQRL5Z

I hope your hands can handle his chords without having to roll them too much! Some are quite a stretch.

Please let us know what you decide and best wishes,

Steve

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His early works are in op 3
Elegie is op 3 no 1. I personally found it more daunting to play then opus three number two , C sharp minor prelude

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SCm9O2KNEX4

I haven’t played op 3 no 3

Hi Dog Person,

I won't be able to get to my score until tomorrow but I think we are talking about something different. My score definitely does not have Elegie in it but could have the others you mention. I will write back again tomorrow...

Steve

Elegie op 3 no 1, played by Rach
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ElYS7lyJ3O4.

Imslp.org
http://imslp.org/wiki/Morceaux_de_Fantaisie%2C_Op.3_%28Rachmaninoff%2C_Sergei%29

Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise (piano transcription) might be doable since it is a relatively slow song with a strong melancholic line over chordal accompaniment (divided between both hands).

https://youtu.be/0_OrA80NGBM

Sheet music:

http://chopinandmysaucepan.com/wp-c...alise-Op.-34-No.-14-by-Zoltan-Kocsis.pdf

For some reason I cannot edit my post above. I wanted to add another piece that is relatively easy and sounds much harder than it actually is:

Polichinelle op 3 no 4

https://youtu.be/r8DkC8dPdoE

This is probably the easiest Rachmaninov piece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ei9wBgjWzo

There are a few lovely well-known Preludes that are easier than almost any of Op.3. They are the ones my teacher started me on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qoPDQzXVmk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q-7WeFsooM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRVroSqgRV4

And a favorite of Horowitz and many other greats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13UlKWgwdZI

For me op25 No1 is technically the most approachable of the preludes. That could just be peculiar to me but worth checking out to see how it suits you.
I have a long term op32 no12 project ongoing at the moment which is stuck on some technical hurdles, but I think doable eventually.

I think a transcription of Vocalise would be a good first Rachmaninov piece but not in the Kocsis transcription which is the hardest of the standard transcriptions and I think considerably harder than most of the OP's rep. I would recommend the transcription by Fiorentino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn2QNwnmC_I
Unfortunately, the score may be hard to locate online and I don't remember where I got my copy. If the Fiorentino transcription can't be found then I suggest the one by Richardson which is the most commonly played one and easier than the one by Kocsis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5IiC1kAdzM

Have to look into these......

Pieces that are doable for one person may not be doable for another, so these types of questions are hard to answer.... except to comment on the relative difficulty of the pieces. I think that Vocalise and Elegie are relatively easier than the preludes mentioned above. This is based on having played Elegie and 3/2, 23/4, 32/12, and Variation 18 from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - not very extensive experience. I find Rach pieces to be quite challenging.

It's lesser known but Op. 10, Rach's 7 Morceaux de Salon has some of his easier pieces. I would say No. 1 the Nocturne is easier than any of his preludes and the Elegie as well. Check out all 7 pieces though - others in that set could be good starters too.

Further to my post yesterday, here is a link to the Rachmaninoff Early Works book I have. It is really amazing how young he was when writing these works.

https://www.partitura.be/en/artikel...rgei-Rachmaninoff-/-David-Butler-Cannata

Steve

Thank you, I'm spoilt for choices now . I think some of them are too hard and not doable for me but I have some options in the choices suggested. polichinelle did make me smile, my nana calls my brother 'le policinhelle'. i thought it was a common word but a french relative was laughing when it was said as apparently it is a very old fashion word !

Thanks for pointing out the Fiorentino transcription, I was unaware of this considerably easier version which sounds quite beautiful in its simplicity. The sheet music is indeed hard to find; however, if you google it, the first page is available for those who want to try it out. Upon further googling I found 2 other Fiorentino transcription of Rachmaninoff songs (“Daisies” and “Lilacs”) which also sound fantastic. The sheet music seem very difficult to find however.

https://youtu.be/bwgjVkCsDXo

I don't think you are giving yourself enough credit! I watched your youtube videos and think you are a wonderful pianist. You are young and have many years of enjoyment ahead of you. I also have a feeling you have an excellent instructor.

Best wishes / Steve

You could take screen shots of the music for Vocalise shown on the video you included. It's interesting that although Fiorentino was a super virtuoso many of his transcriptions are very straightforward and relatively simple compared to other pianists' transcriptions of the same works.

May I add "Fragments" and from his musical moments Op.16 3 and Op 16 5?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81fnylYxwI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elxdTwvN9W4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZRQ2ld4hY4

Thanks

p.s. I only wished there was some Rachmainov for smaller hands like mine ........

I won't comment on how "easy" this is, but it's worth pointing out that if you start at 4:00 what follows is a direct steal from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmdkTsjFI-s

Start at 16:41

Of course, there is nothing dishonorable about stealing from yourself!