This album features Preludes from four composers, who were all accomplished pianists and composers, and who interacted and influenced each other. Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) entered the Moscow Conservatory as a young man, and one of his teachers there was Anton Arensky (1861–1906) who taught harmony. While Rachmaninoff's style and compositions were significantly influenced by other composers like Tchaikovsky, it is likely that Arensky had some impact on his musical development, especially in his earlier works. There is very little documented about Arensky, although his compositions are pleasing to the ear and deserve to be played and heard more often. It is not clear when his 12 Preludes Op.63 were composed, which are comprised of 12 very short pieces and idiomatically Chopinesque. George Gershwin (1898–1937) and Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) had a mutual admiration for each other's works. Ravel was familiar with and appreciated Gershwin's jazz-influenced compositions, while Gershwin showed deep respect for Ravel's music by approaching Ravel with the desire to study composition under him.