thumb|Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1901

Six moments musicaux (French for "Six Musical Moments"; ), Op. 16, is a set of solo piano pieces composed by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff between October and December 1896. Each Moment musical reproduces a musical form characteristic of a previous musical era. The forms that appear in Rachmaninoff's incarnation are the nocturne, song without words, barcarolle, virtuoso étude, and theme and variations.

The individual pieces have been described as "true concert works, being best served on a stage and with a concert grand." Although composed as part of a set, each piece stands on its own as a concert solo with individual themes and moods.

In an interview in 1941, Rachmaninoff said, "What I try to do, when writing down my music, is to make it say simply and directly that which is in my heart when I am composing." Even though Moments musicaux were written because he was short of money, the pieces summarize his knowledge of piano composition up to that point. Andante cantabile is a contrast to its two surrounding pieces, explicitly named "funeral march" and "lament." Presto draws inspiration from several sources, including the Preludes of Frédéric Chopin, to synthesize an explosion of melodic intensity. On December 7, he wrote to Aleksandr Zatayevich, a Russian composer he had met before he had composed the work, saying, "I hurry in order to get money I need by a certain date ... This perpetual financial pressure is, on the one hand, quite beneficial ... by the 20th of this month I have to write six piano pieces." Despite the hasty circumstances, the work evidences his early virtuosity, and sets an example for the quality of his future works. and created a foundation of inner voices that he would elaborate on in his Preludes (Op. 23) and Études-Tableaux (Op. 33).

Composition

1. Andantino, B minor

thumb|300px|In Andantino, the Con moto shows off the long melody in a [[Compound meter (music)|compound meter (). It is divided into three distinct sections. The first presents a theme in common time (Time signature#Frequently used time signatures|) with a typical nocturne figure for the left hand.

Like the second and fourth pieces, number six is written in the form of an étude, with a repetitive but technically challenging chordal melody that is doubled in both hands. Although revolutionary and grand in style, The Moments go as far as to "confirm the inexplicable inherent in genius", with "exquisite melody, wondrous harmonic changes, 'heavenly brevity'," while maintaining "a sense of contrast and variety that allows each miniature to stand alone while complementing the work on either side of it."

References

  • Piano.ru – Sheet music (in Russian)