Rachmaninoff: Practical Urtext Editions (based on Critical Edition) Editor: Antipov, Valentin Rachmaninoff always found piano pieces particularly difficult to compose. In a letter to N. S. Morozov (of 30 July/11 August 1910) he wrote, referring to the start of his work on the cycle of Preludes op. 32 “…work on the small items for piano goes worst of all. I don’t like doing it, and it’s hard going for me. There’s neither beauty nor joy in it.” (translated by Stuart Campbell). The two books of Etudes-Tableaux, op. 33 and op. 39, were composed with a gap of several years between them, which has inevitably resulted in each book having its own distinctive characteristics. Nevertheless, it is impossible to overlook the similarity in style and concept that make the Etudes-Tableaux an integral compositional cycle. Content - Preface - Publishing principles - Facsimile: Etudes-Tableaux op. 33, nos. 1-2, 5-6, 8-9, autograph, manuscript, separate pages - Facsimile: Etudes-Tableaux op. 39, nos. 1, 3, 6, 8, autograph, manuscript, separate pages - Facsimile: Etudes-Tableaux op. 33, first edition (1914), title page - Facsimile: Etudes-Tableaux op. 33, second edition (1916), title page - Facsimile: Etudes-Tableaux op. 39, first edition (1917), title page - . - 9 Etudes-Tableaux op. 33/1 (1st Version). F minor, C major, C minor A minor (hypothetical reconstruction), D minor, E-flat minor, E-flat major, G minor, C-sharp minor - 9 Etudes-Tableaux op. 33/2 (2nd Version): F minor, C major, C minor, A minor (scholarly reconstruction), D minor, E-flat minor, E-flat major, G minor, C-sharp minor - 9 Etudes-Tableaux op. 39: C minor, A minor, F-sharp minor, B minor, E-flat minor, A minor, C minor, D minor, D major - . - Appendix: - Etude-Tableau op. 39, no. 1 in C minor (1st Version) - Etude-Tableau op. 39, no. 3 in F-sharp minor (early Variants of separate text fragments)