Sergey Rachmaninoff
Moment Musical
in E Minor, Op. 16 No. 4
Fiery and highly virtuosic, this piece increases in intensity all the way up to the final, thunderous E minor chord.
Year: 1896
Period: Late Romantic
Piano score: Scanned score 
Audiovisual Study Tool
Tempestuous Emotion
The fourth piece from the Six Moments Musicaux Op. 16 is a fiery and highly virtuosic manifestation of tempestuous emotion. The opening theme, set over a torrent of chromatic sextuplets in the left hand, is simple and fanfare-like, yet deeply felt, ending with a sequence of expressive sighing gestures. The middle of the piece features a quieter and more tender theme based on a descending scale in thirds, alternating with outbursts of material from the beginning of the piece. The return of the opening theme increases the tempo and continually displaces the left-hand figure into different registers, increasing both the sense of intensity as well as the technical demands placed on the pianist. The piece ends with the return of the sighs which concluded the first presentation of the theme, marked Prestissimo and to be played as loudly as possible, leading to a final, thunderous E minor chord.Background
The Six moments musicaux Op. 16 were composed between October and December 1896, at a time when Rachmaninoff was under financial pressure, which he in a letter considered “... on the one hand, quite beneficial” since it forced him to be productive. The set's name was likely inspired by Franz Schubert's Six moments musicaux Op. 94, and the pieces were well-received by critics.Forum posts about this piece:
Problematic pinky + questions for pieces. by aleksej
Hello, pianostreet, I watched a video of me playing Rachmaninoff's moment misicaux op. 16 no. 4, and i noticed, for some reason my pinky looks very straight, almost pointing upwards and looking very...
Is practice all it takes..? by lucasejp
People often ask me (because they know I'm, if I do say so myself, quite good at piano), whether there comes a point where a pianist's technique is sufficient enough for them to be able to practice a...
What second piece could I learn? by lucasejp
Currently working on Rachmaninoff's Moment Musical No.4 and it's going well. However, after about an hour of practice I get burnt out and would love to learn another piece on the side. Any...
Tips for rachmaninoff Moment Musical No.4 by lucasejp
Just looking for some general practice tips + an estimation of how long it will take me (a past grade 8 ASBRS level player) to learn this piece with approx 1-2 hour of practice every day? looking through the...
How hard is rach. Moment musicaux no.4 by the green piano man
I want to learn this piece but im not sure I could. Right now I practice Liszt 12.rhapsody(henle 9) Bach d minor BWW 1052 piano concerto(henle 7), schubert a flat major impromptu from op.90(maybe henle...
Compare Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No. 3 and Rachmaninoff's Moment Musical No. 4 by beethovenfan01
I wonder ... how much the one influenced the other. I just realized that today. What do y'all think? It's like Rachmaninoff went and twisted "Thou art so like a flower" into "Thou art...
Rachmaninoff typo? by geoffhuang
I know there have been some other recent threads about Rachmaninoff pieces with potential small note errors. I ran into something recently in the 4th movement of his musical moments (in the attached...
Pieces of the same level of difficulty with.... by elis_piano
... Rachmaninoff's Moment Musical Op. 16, No. 4 ?? Thanks
Recommendations by elis_piano
What would you recomend to a student to play next if he plays pieces like Rachmaninoff - Moment Musical op. 16 N. 4, Rachmaninoff - prelude in c# minor, Chopin - Revolutionary etude, Chopin - Nocturne op. 48 n...
Which piece should I learn?? by chickenbunny
I'm deciding whether is learn Liebestraum: Nocturne no 3 by Franz Liszt or Moment Musical opus 16 no 4 by Rachmaninov.. which do you like more? and which one do you think is easier to...
Rachmaninoff - Musical Moment no 4 - Élider DiPaula by elider_bento
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKjStaIJdUc Recital at Virginia & West Virginia Music Teachers Association - Fall Collaborative Conference. Master Class with Barbara Nissman....
Rachmaninov Moments Musicaux No. 4 in E min by moby1
I've been working on this and have a question. The L.H. has a number of leaps that need to happen very quickly. This sort of thing starts around measure 7 and continues throughout the...
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Moment Musical in E Minor, Op. 16 No. 4 by the composer Sergey Rachmaninoff who lived from 1873 to 1943.
The piece was published in 1896 and is included in Rachmaninoff's Moments Musicaux.