"One day the Prelude in C sharp minor just came to me and I wrote it down. It emerged with such force that I simply could not free myself from it (...). It simply had to be. And there it is now!
At that time I was a young man of 18 and I had just graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. Music is not a lucrative job, not even for famous composers, and for a newcomer it is usually hopeless. After just one year, I was practically penniless. I needed money, so (...) I sold the Prelude to a publisher for whatever price. In the end it was 40 roubles - about 20 dollars. I'm sure you'll agree that's very modest compensation for what the publishers earn from the piece." (S. Rachmaninoff)

Live recording from the 2023 Weimar tastenReich® concert.