Sergey Rachmaninoff [Rachmaninov]
(Born; Semyonovo, 1 April 1873; Died; Beverley
Hills, 28 March 1943). Russian composer and pianist. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory
(1885-92) under Zverev (where Skryabin was a fellow pupil) and his cousin Ziloti for piano
and Taneyev and Arensky for composition, graduating with distinction as both pianist and
composer (the opera Aleko, given at the Bol'shoy in 1893, was his diploma piece).
During the ensuing years he composed piano pieces (including his famous C sharp minor
Prelude), songs and orchestral works, but the disastrous première in 1897 of his Symphony
no. 1 poorly conducted by Glazunov, brought about a creative despair that was not
dispelled until he sought medical help in 1900: then he quickly composed his Second Piano
Concerto. Meanwhile he had set out on a new career as a conductor, appearing in Moscow and
London; he later was conductor at the Bol'shoy, 1904-6.
By this stage, and most particularly in the
Piano Concerto no. 2, the essentials of his art had been assembled: the command of the
emotional gesture conceived as lyrical melody extended from small motifs, the concealment
behind this of subtleties in orchestration and structure, the broad sweep of his lines and
forms, the predominant melancholy and nostalgia, the loyalty to the finer Russian
Romanticism inherited from Tchaikovsky and his teachers. These things were not to change,
and during the remaining years to the Revolution they provided him with the materials for
a sizable output of operas liturgical music, orchestral works, piano pieces and songs,
even though composition was generally restricted to periods of seclusion between concert
engagements. In 1909 he made his first American tour as a pianist, for which he wrote the
Piano Concerto no. 3.
Soon after the October Revolution he left
Russia with his family for Scandinavia; in 1918 they arrived in New York, where he mainly
lived thereafter, though he spent periods in Paris (where he founded a publishing firm),
Dresden and Switzerland. There was a period of creative silence until 1926 when he wrote
the Piano Concerto no. 4, followed by only a handful of works over the next 15 years, even
though all are on a large scale. During this period, however, he was active as a pianist
on both sides of the Atlantic (though never again in Russia). As a pianist he was famous
for his precision, rhythmic drive, legato and clarity of texture and for the broad design
of his performances.
Operas Aleko (1893); The
Miserly Knight (1906); Francesca da Rimini (1906)
Choral music 6 choruses,
women's or children's v (1896) Spring, Bar, chorus, orch (1902); Liturgy of St John
Chrysostom (1910); The Bells, S, T, Bar, chorus, orch (1913); All-Night Vigil (1915); 3
Russian songs (1926)Piano and orchestra Pf Conc. no.1, fSharp; (1891); Pf Conc. no.2, c
(1901); Pf Conc. no.3, d (1909); Pf Conc. no.4, g (1926, rev. 1941); Rhapsody on a Theme
of Paganini (1934)
Orchestral music Prince
Rostislav, sym. poem (1891); The Rock, sym. poem (1893); Capriccio on Gypsy Themes (1894);
Sym. no.1, d (1895); Sym, no.2, e (1907), The Isle of the Dead, sym. poem (1909); Sym.
no.3, a (1936); Sym. Dances (1940)
Piano musicMorceaux de salon,
(1894); 6 Duets, 4 hands (1894); Moments musicaux (1896); Suite, 2 pf (1901); Chopin
variations (1903); 10 Preludes op.23 (1903); Sonata no.1, d (1907); 13 Preludes op.32
(1910); 6 Etudes-tableaux op.33 (1911); Sonata no.2, Flat; (1913); 9 Etudes-tableaux op.39
(1917); Corelli variations (1931)
Chamber music Trio
éígiaque, g, pf, vn, vc (1892); Trioéígiaque, d, pf, vn, vc (1893); Sonata, vc, pf
(1901)
Songs 6 op.4 (1893); 6 op.8
(1893); 12 op.14 (1896); 12 op.21(1902); 15 op.26 (1906); 14 op.34 (1912); 6 op.38 (1916)
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