The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29
This guide follows Rachmaninoff’s The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (1909) in one part.
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Follow all 3 sections as they play
0:14–19:31
The piece begins in the darkest colours, with the cellos rocking in 5/8 like oars meeting water. Horns and woodwinds add of despair, and the gradually takes shape. In section B the mood changes for the Rachmaninoff called "life": the violins climb to the top of their range in a faster, more nervous passage that rushes to a hysterical and then collapses. Then the opening music of death (A), and the is now far more explicit.
- 1. A
- B
Section boundaries in music are not always sharp; a transition may be felt over a pause or a held chord.
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