23:52 - Theme - Andante
25:27 - Etude I (Variation 1) - Un poco più vivo
26:24 - Posthumous variation I - Andante, Tempo del tema
27:23 - Etude II (Variation 2) - Andante 30:05 - Posthumous variation II - Meno Mosso 32:12 - Posthumous variation III - Allegro
33:39 - Posthumous variation IV - Allegretto
36:30 - Posthumous variation V - Moderato
38:48 - Etude III - Vivace
40:05 - Etude IV (Variation 3) - Allegro marcato
41:04 - Etude V (Variation 4) - Scherzando
42:12 - Etude VI (Variation 5) - Agitato
42:47 - Etude VII (Variation 6) - Allegro molto
43:28 - Etude VIII (Variation 7) - Sempre marcatissimo
45:50 - Etude IX - Presto possibile
46:26 - Etude X (Variation 8) - Allegro con energia
47:34 - Etude XI (Variation 9) - Andanteespressivo
49:25 - Etude XII (Finale) - Allegro brillante (based on Marschner's theme)
Prelude b minor Op. 32 No. 10 - the abyss A friend of mine once told me that while listening to this prelude he was suddenly overwhelmed by almost uncontrollable desire to commit suicide. Just like that -- to go and hang himself. That sums up the mood of this prelude very well. It is a depression in it's manifest form. Stillness, sadness and quiet resignation which are only momentarily replaced by an impetus of utter despair.
...Sticky and humid late summer afternoon, when hot air seems to tremble rising over ripening fields - only birds are able to pierce this thick air with their plaintive songs in anticipation of a thunderstorm -- finally this heavy air falls down to earth with drops of rain... This is not a dainty French or Italian landscape -- these are southern Russia wheat fields. This is Rachmaninoff's ancestral land - the land he never ceased to dream of from far away...