Prelude in B Minor Op.32 No.10.. (Rachmaninoff). (Please read the narrative below).

Rachmaninov wrote all 13 of the Op.32 preludes in a very short 19 day period in 1910, just after returning home from a lengthy tour of the United States.
This prelude is Russian to the core: pianist Benno Moisevitch, in conversation with Rachmaninoff, wisely guessed its emotional wellspring: the yearning for a homecoming, but it would never come. It is full of yearning for the homeland.
Rachmaninoff was inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting "Die Heimkehr" ("The Homecoming" or "The Return"). This is the second to be inspired by one of Böcklin's paintings; the other being the orchestral 'Isle of the Dead'.

The speed indication is Lento (very slow) in 4/4 time (or, perhaps, it should have been 12/8?).

(This composition comes out from the very soul of Rachmaninoff: it is full of nostalgia for his homeland since he had to be away on concert tours and other commitments from the age of 33. He was able to visit friends in Russia between his commitments, but it was not until 1918 that he officially went to America. He admitted that, by leaving Russia, "I left behind my desire to compose: losing my country, I lost myself also".
I imagine that, towards the end of the cadenza in the middle of this prelude, Rachmaninoff had a vision of the corn fields at one of the estates he once was a guest when he was a young boy; on a hot summer's day he would lazily watch the stalks of corn as they wavered to-and-fro in the wind, a memory he often recalled periodically).

GlynGlynn, alias GB, realiser.
Please feel free to leave any comments, be they good, bad, or indifferent as to whether the piece, or the performance, moved you in any way whatsoever!

(Since music is an aural art, and not a visual one, it is best to listen to these pieces, and other artists performances, with eyes closed, so as to be able to listen intently as to how the music is portrayed).

For more videos, go to: grumpyoldpianistplus (NO GAPS), click on it, click videos, scroll down, click on one.