Prelude in Bb Major

Prelude in Bb Major, Op. 23 no. 2

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

Date of publication: 1903

There's not much literature online about the Rachmaninoff's process in composing Op. 23 no. 2 - or any of the ten preludes from Op. 23 for that matter. And I didn't want to write something about the entire collection yet - I'll do that for a later CPOTW. So for this week, I'm detailing my analysis and interpretation of the piece.

Rachmaninov's Prelude in Bb is the most heroic of the Op. 23 set. It lives up to its triumphant, Maestoso marking. The prelude follows a complete ABA form and is sufficient as a stand-alone piece, like Rachmaninov's other preludes. The piece's rhythmic complexities - 6 on 4/3 on 2 polyrhythms and sextuplet-quintuplet blends - generate much of its power. For example, the variation between sixteenth-notes and sextuplets in the right hand give extra weight to the thundering chords in the main theme. Rhythmic stress is more relaxed in the B section, which is filled with rubato as opposed to the militant A sections. This helps create atmospheric-contrasts - the melody varies from stormy dignity to a gentler and flowing waterfall. Contrast and variation are further created from the modulations in key from Bb major to its mediant D minor.

The piece's technical difficulties come from the power needed to maintain the maestoso character whilst laboring through lightning-fast octaves and runs. The top-voice in the octave passages are also challenging to bring out - especially over the adjacent thirds that follow every octave in the middle section. Other difficulties come from hellish jumps and broken octaves runs, i.e. measures 28-31, 52-54, and 62. Accents, dynamic shifts, proper pedaling, and counterpoint create extra nuance that further complicate the already demanding notes.

In my practice, this prelude reminds me of Odysseus from Homer's Odyssey. The Odyssey is an epic poem that follows Odysseus's tumultuous voyage home through numerous seas, monsters, and islands. The left hand's ostinato throughout the entire piece contains arpeggiated runs storming up and down - like the furious sea after Poseidon curses Odysseus. The in-your-face Maestoso is fitting for Odysseus' arrogant pride that does him no favors on his voyage home.

The piece starts out with the triumphant theme - a cavalier Odysseus who thinks he's on top of the world after outwitting Polyphemus the cyclops, surviving the underworld, listening to the siren's song, etc. This brazen confidence characterizes most of the A section. However, some sudden shifts to D minor, i.e. measures 6-8, hint at Odysseus's melancholic longing for his home and wife, Penelope. These unsettling undertones foreshadow that his journey is far from finished and will become more desperate.

In the transition from the A section to the B section, Odysseus loses control of the melody in measures 15 and 16. Frantic chords crash down, reminiscent of his crew dying in Zeus's storm after they eat Helios's sacred cattle. Finally, the chaotic transition resolves in the B section as Odysseus washes ashore onto Calypso's island. There, he suffers for 7 long years - just as the prelude's minor melodies gently weep. Odysseus's pride finally cracks - the homophonic and certain main theme are broken into a counterpoint between the left and right hands. To me, this section isn't just an a look into Odysseus's introspection and longing for his wife. The warm and connected left hand also symbolize Calypso's unrequited love - juxtaposed to the right hand's eerie undulating and chromatic octaves.

As an agitated virtuosic passage transitions the prelude into its recapitulation, Odysseus leaves Calypso's island with her hep and is forced ashore to meet the Phaeacians. Hope returns as the melody reasserts itself, followed by the return of the A section. The triumphant A section returns as Odysseus retells his stories to the Phaeacians, receives their help, and returns to Ithaca. However, upon learning of his wife's suitors, he and his son enter into the piece's final rage. They kill all the suitors in the hardest, chaotic chorded passage in measures 52-54. Finally after 10 painful years, Odysseus reunites with his wife in measure 55. A noble melody in the left hand takes over, accompanied by celebratory runs in the right hand as the piece nears its end.