Beautiful music (IX)

Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers. His music is so ambitious, so enormous in size, so epic in passion that it's hard for me to not get up in the vortex. I especially love his piano music. His Third Piano Concerto is something truly to behold, and I've been lucky enough to see it performed live twice. On a smaller scale, though, his Preludes are also a marvelous achievement.

Rachmaninoff wrote two sets of Preludes in his lifetime: the 10 Preludes, Op. 23; the 13 Preludes, Op. 32; and of course, the ever famous Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2. For today's enjoyment, I'm posting the 10 Preludes, Op. 23, as performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (with the exception of No. 5; that one's performed by Sviatoslav Richter; I really wanted to find the performance by Van Cliburn, but alas, YouTube couldn't accommodate).

No. 1 in F sharp minor

No. 2 in B flat major

No. 3 in D minor

No. 4 in D major

No. 5 in G minor

No. 6 in E flat major

No. 7 in C minor

No. 8 in A flat major

No. 9 in E flat minor

No. 10 in G flat major