Étude-tableau, Op. 39 No. 5

1. 0:00
   Melody over triplet chords

   The marking is Appassionato, followed by molto marcato, strongly marked. Sustained upper notes sound above repeated triplet chords. Both hands are fully occupied, and the pianist has to sustain a single melodic line.

2. 0:32
   Op. 39 and departure from Russia

   Rachmaninoff wrote the nine studies of Op. 39 in 1916–⁠17, the last years he spent in Russia. Before the end of 1917 he left the country for good, and concert touring abroad later became his livelihood.

3. 1:02
   Left-hand sextuplets

   The repeated chords are followed by sextuplets in the left hand. Above them, the right hand plays a melody in long notes, marked p.

4. 1:40
   Letter to Respighi, 1930

   In a letter to Respighi of 2 January 1930 he named the pictures behind only five of his études: sea and seagulls, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, a fair, an oriental march and a funeral march. This Appassionato is not among them, and no published letter explains the rest.

5. 2:24
   Return of the opening, Tempo I

   At Tempo I, pesante the opening returns. The melody now lies in the left hand, below the repeated chords, and is again marked molto marcato. The right hand plays the repeated chords above it.

6. 3:14
   Return of the dolce melody

   The left hand returns to broken chords and the right hand takes up the melody again, marked dolce. Long notes sound above the accompaniment, and the dynamic drops through the closing pages.

7. 4:12
   Close in E♭ major

   E♭ major replaces the minor key of the opening. The last page is marked morendo, dying away. Broken chords continue beneath the held upper notes until both hands stop.

Joins

1. 1:02
   Left-hand sextuplets begin

   A diminuendo reduces the force of the repeated chords. The left hand begins sextuplets in the low bass, spreading the chord across the keyboard. After a short delay the right hand enters with a melody. Both hands are marked p.

2. 2:24
   Opening melody returns in the left hand

   The chords are marked accelerando with a crescendo, then ritenuto before Tempo I. At Tempo I the opening melody returns in the left hand, marked molto marcato, while the right hand repeats heavy chords. The bass descends to E♭.

3. 3:14
   Right-hand melody returns over broken chords

   The right hand leaves its repeated chords and takes up the melody again. The left hand spreads the harmony into broken chords. The markings p and then dolce replace the instructions of the heavy return. The broken-chord figures continue through the closing pages, which move to E♭ major and end morendo.