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Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff [a] [b] (1 April [ O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music.
- 28 March 1943 (aged 69), Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
- Overview
- Early life
- Major creative activity
- Later years
- Legacy
Sergey Rachmaninoff (born March 20 [April 1, New Style], 1873, Oneg, near Semyonovo, Russia—died March 28, 1943, Beverly Hills, California, U.S.) composer who was the last great figure of the tradition of Russian Romanticism and a leading piano virtuoso of his time. He is especially known for his piano concerti and the piece for piano and orchestra...
Rachmaninoff was born on an estate belonging to his grandparents, situated near Lake Ilmen in the Novgorod district. His father was a retired army officer and his mother the daughter of a general. The boy was destined to become an army officer until his father lost the entire family fortune through risky financial ventures and then deserted the family. Young Sergey’s cousin Aleksandr Siloti, a well-known concert pianist and conductor, sensed the boy’s abilities and suggested sending him to the noted teacher and pianist Nikolay Zverev in Moscow for his piano studies. It is to Zverev’s strict disciplinarian treatment of the boy that musical history owes one of the great piano virtuosos of the 20th century. For his general education and theoretical subjects in music, Sergey became a pupil at the Moscow Conservatory.
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Composers & Their Music
At age 19 he graduated from the conservatory, winning a gold medal for his one-act opera Aleko (after Aleksandr Pushkin’s poem Tsygany [“The Gypsies”]). His fame and popularity, both as composer and concert pianist, were launched by two compositions: the Prelude in C-sharp Minor, played for the first time in public on September 26, 1892, and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, which had its first performance in Moscow on October 27, 1901. The former piece, although it first brought Rachmaninoff to public attention, was to haunt him throughout his life—the prelude was constantly requested by his concert audiences. The concerto, his first major success, revived his hopes after a trying period of inactivity.
At the time of the Russian Revolution of 1905, Rachmaninoff was a conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre. Although more of an observer than a person politically involved in the revolution, he went with his family, in November 1906, to live in Dresden. There he wrote three of his major scores: the Symphony No. 2 in E Minor (1907), the symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead (1909), and the Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor (1909). The last was composed especially for his first concert tour of the United States, highlighting his much-acclaimed pianistic debut on November 28, 1909, with the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch. Piano Concerto No. 3 requires great virtuosity from the pianist; its last movement is a bravura section as dazzling as any ever composed. In Philadelphia and Chicago he appeared with equal success in the role of conductor, interpreting his own symphonic compositions. Of these, the Symphony No. 2 is the most significant: it is a work of deep emotion and haunting thematic material. While touring, he was invited to become permanent conductor of the Boston Symphony, but he declined the offer and returned to Russia in February 1910.
The one notable composition of Rachmaninoff’s second period of residence in Moscow was his choral symphony The Bells (1913), based on Konstantin Balmont’s Russian translation of the poem by Edgar Allan Poe. This work displays considerable ingenuity in the coupling of choral and orchestral resources to produce striking imitative and textural effects.
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After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Rachmaninoff went into his second self-imposed exile, dividing his time between residences in Switzerland and the United States. Although for the next 25 years he spent most of his time in an English-speaking country, he never mastered its language or thoroughly acclimatized himself. With his family and a small...
Rachmaninoff’s music, although written mostly in the 20th century, remains firmly entrenched in the 19th-century musical idiom. He was, in effect, the final expression of the tradition embodied by Tchaikovsky—a melodist of Romantic dimensions still writing in an era of explosive change and experimentation.
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- Versatile talent. Sergei Rachmaninoff initially made his name as a great composer, but he was equally great as a pianist and conductor, too. “I’ve never been able to figure out what my true vocation is, who I am - a composer, pianist or conductor...
- Music background. Born on April 1, 1873, into an aristocratic family, Rachmaninov began playing the piano at the age of four. Apparently, music was in his blood.
- Great sense of humor. One of the greatest violinists of all time, Fritz Kreisler, once performed a Cesar Franck’s sonata with Sergei Rachmaninoff at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
- Huge pair of hands. “Rachmaninoff was created from steel and gold: steel in his hands and gold in his heart,” the genius Polish piano player Josef Hofmann once famously remarked.
May 9, 2023 · Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a Russian pianist and composer best known for his piano concertos and symphonies. He overcame an early ravaging by critics and several years of depression to create works which are today amongst the most popular and most-performed of any 20th-century composer.
- Mark Cartwright
- What is Rachmaninoff's most famous piece?Rachmaninoff's most famous piece is his Second Piano Concerto, used in many film soundtracks and the popular song All by Myself.
- How old was Rachmaninoff when he died?Rachmaninoff was 69 when he died of cancer at his home in Beverly Hills on 28 March 1943.
- Did Rachmaninoff marry his cousin?Rachmaninoff married his first cousin Natalya Satina in 1902; they had two daughters.
- Did Rachmaninoff like Tchaikovsky?Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky were friends who admired each other's music.
- A young, musical genius. Sergei Rachmaninov was born on 1 April 1873 in Semyonovo, north-west Russia. As a young man he consistently amazed his teachers with his jaw-dropping ability as a pianist and composer.
- A drunken première? The première of Rachmaninov’s first symphony in March 1897 was a total disaster. It took place under the baton of Glazunov, pictured, who was at best incompetent and, according to some, drunk.
- The nation's favourite classical work. Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 of 1901 is often described as the greatest ever written. Its subsequent use in the film Brief Encounter has made it a constant favourite.
- Rachmaninov and daughter. It was after completing his first major choral work, Vesna (Spring) in 1902, that Rachmaninov made the surprise announcement that he was marrying his cousin, Natalya.
Jun 7, 2021 · A Guide to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Life and Music. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 5 min read. Russian composer, pianist, and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff was one of the most consequential musicians of classical music's Romantic period.
Mar 31, 2023 · By Kyle Macdonald. As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the great composer-pianist’s birth, here are the ways his virtuosity, creative brilliance, and life story changed the music world. Immense talent and early tragedy. Born on 1 April 1873 into a Russian aristocratic family, Rachmaninov ’s pianistic talent was recognised and embraced early.
