some of his symphonies and other orchestral works, songs and choral music recognised
as masterpieces alongside the more familiar piano works.
Rachmaninoff’s compositions include four piano concertos, the Rhapsody on a Theme of
Paganini for piano and orchestra, three symphonies, two piano sonatas, three operas, a
choral symphony (‘The Bells’), the ‘Vespers’, many songs including his ‘Vocalise’, and
his Symphonic Dances.
Compositions for piano included two sonatas, two sets of preludes, the separate prelude
in C sharp minor, six Moments Musicaux and seventeen Etudes-Tableaux. Most of his
compositions follow a melancholy, late romantic style akin to Tchaikovsky with strong
influences from Chopin and Liszt. Other inspiration included the music of Balakirev,
Mussorgsky, Medtner and Henselt.
Piano concertos
- F sharp minor opus 1
- C minor opus 18
- D minor opus 30
- G minor opus 40
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini opus 43
Piano music
Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor opus 36
Prelude in C sharp minor opus 3 no. 2
Preludes opus 23 (includes no. 5 in G minor ‘Cossack’)
Preludes opus 32 (includes no. 12 in G sharp minor)
Moments Musicaux
Etudes Tableaux
RAVEL
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a Basque French composer and pianist of the
impressionist period, known especially for the subtlety, richness and poignancy of his
music. Although not a prolific composer, his piano, chamber and orchestral music have
become staples of the concert repertoire.
Ravel’s piano compositions such as ‘Jeux d’eau’, ‘Miroirs’ and ‘Gaspard de la Nuit’ and
his orchestral music, including ‘Daphnis et Chloe and his arrangement of Mussorgsky’s
‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, use tone colour, variety of sound and instrumentation very
effectively. His popular piano works include ‘La Valse’, ‘Valse Nobles et Sentimentales,
‘Sonatine’, ‘Alborado del Gracioso’ and ‘Pavane pour une enfante défunte’. His Piano
Concerto for the left hand in D major (1929-1930) and Piano Concerto in G major (1929-
1931) are also popular.