Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Oriental Sketch in B♭ major. TN ii/19/2 (1917)
Non allegro
Nikolai Lugansky, 2022
Art & Music Festival, Sviatoslav Richter Foundation
“Three pieces by Rachmaninoff - Fragments, Oriental Sketch, and a Prelude in D minor - were written during what was perhaps the most despairing period of the composer’s life, November 1917. Rachmaninoff had already decided to leave his homeland, and was due to do so in three or four weeks’ time. This was the setting in which he composed these three pieces, two of which (Fragments and Oriental Sketch) seemed to escape those dark thoughts. Fragments evokes fading memories of something beautiful, and Oriental Sketch is a spectacular piece in which you can hear echoes of the music of young Prokofiev - his dynamics, his motor rhythms and his festive use of B-flat major are all present here. The piece in D minor known as ‘Prelude’ (or sometimes ‘Piano Piece’) is one of a few compositions in which Rachmaninoff conveyed not the terrors of the outside world, but the horror that lived in his soul.”
- Lugansky, Album Notes, 2023