Preludes (musical)

Preludes
A musical fantasia set in the hypnotized mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff
Music Dave Malloy
Lyrics Dave Malloy
Book Dave Malloy
Productions June 2015
Lincoln Center Theater 3

Preludes is a musical fantasia set in the mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff, written and composed by Dave Malloy. The music is a combination of compositions by Rachmaninoff, Malloy, hybrids of the two, as well as music and lyrics from other related compositions.[1]

Synopsis

After the disastrous premiere of his first symphony, the young Rachmaninoff suffers from writer’s block. He begins daily sessions with a therapeutic hypnotist, in an effort to overcome depression and return to composing.[2]

Musical numbers

Act 1

1. “Your Day”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
suggested by Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18, 1st Movement, opening phrase,
and Bach’s 2-Part Invention no. 9 in F minor, BWV 780

2. “Lilacs”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
suggested by Rachmaninoff’s "Lilacs" from 12 Songs, op. 21, no. 5

3. Prelude in Bb major, op. 23, no. 2
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

4. “Ho-Ho”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy

5. “Blocked”
Music & Text by Dave Malloy

6. “Vocalise,” from 14 Romances, op. 34, no. 14
by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Arranged by Dave Malloy

7. Étude-tableau in Bb minor, op. 39 no. 4
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

8. “Subway”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy

9. Prelude in G# minor, op. 32 no. 12
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

10. Prelude in G minor, op. 23, no. 5
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

11. “Trepak” from Songs and Dances of Death
Music by Modest Mussorgsky
Lyrics by Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov

12. Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18, 1st movement, 1st theme
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

13. Moment Musical in Bb minor, op. 16, no. 1
by Sergei Rachmaninoff

14. “Tchaikovsky’s Child’s Song”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy

15. “Natalya”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
suggested by Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18, 2nd movement
and Cello Sonata, op. 19, 2nd movement
Act 2

16. “Loop”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
suggested by Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43
and Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor, op. 30

17. “Not Alone”
Lyrics by Dave Malloy
Music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Moment Musical in Db major, op. 16, no. 5

18. "The Prelude"
Prelude in C# minor, op. 3, no. 2
by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Text by Dave Malloy

19. “Fate” from 12 Songs, op. 21, no. 1
Music by Sergei Rachmaninoff
suggested by Beethoven's Symphony no. 5, op. 67
Lyrics by Aleksy Apukthin

20. “The First Symphony”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
Suggested by Rachmaninoff’s Symphony no. 1

21. Symphony no. 6 in F major, op. 68, 2nd movement
By Ludwig van Beethoven
Arranged for piano four hands by Selmar Bagge

22. “Blagoslovi, dushe moya, Gospoda” from Vespers, op. 37, no. 2
by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Arranged by Dave Malloy

23. “Hypnosis”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
suggested by Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in G minor, op. 23, no. 5, 2nd theme

24. “Mountains”
Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy
suggested by Rachmaninoff’s "I Came To Her" from 12 Songs, op. 14, no. 4

25. Piano Concerto no. 2 in C minor, op. 18, 1st movement, 2nd theme
by Sergei Rachmaninoff[3]

Productions

The piece premiered in 2015 at Lincoln Center Theater 3. In 2017 the show made its European and German speaking premiere at the Landestheater Linz, Austria. [4]

Critical response

The piece was well received by the New York press; Ben Brantley in the New York Times wrote “Writer’s block turns out to be a lot more inspiring than you could ever have imagine—and sad and stirring and gloriously fun. In Preludes, Dave Malloy makes beautiful music out of a composer’s three years of creative silence…the best musical about art’s agonies since Georges Seurat wielded a twitchy paintbrush in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park With George. Mr. Malloy...incorporates wildly diverse sources—classical, folk, electro-pop—into a form that exists defiantly beyond the quotation marks of postmodernism. He’s that rarity, a smart sentimentalist whose self-consciousness about his feelings in no way dilutes them...Along with Fun Home and the soaring, Broadway-bound Hamilton, this smashing production says that the American musical is not only not dead but also growing luxuriantly in places you never expected."”[5]

Recordings

In July 2015, Lincoln Center announced a cast album was being recorded. The album was subsequently released January 19, 2016 by Ghostlight Records.

References

  1. ↑ "Preludes". Composer's website. New York.
  2. ↑ "Preludes". Lincoln Center 3 website. New York.
  3. ↑ [Preludes program, Lincoln Center Theater 3, June 2015]
  4. ↑ Show Details, Landestheater Linz
  5. ↑ Brantley, Ben. , New York Times, June 15, 2015
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