A Guide to Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Life and Music

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor from the late Romantic period in classical music. During a career that spanned both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Rachmaninoff drew acclaim for dramatically expressive compositions, bold orchestrations, and virtuosic piano writing and performance.

Rachmaninoff lived and worked during an era in which Russian composers were at the forefront of European classical music. He was preceded by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Modest Mussorgsky and was a contemporary of Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Among his Russian peers, he stands out for his melancholy expressiveness and his status as a true piano virtuoso.

Although Rachmaninoff's career was plagued by disruptive world events and a personal battle with depression, he left a dramatic mark on Western music.

• Early life: Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Russia in 1873. His early home was Oneg, an estate located near Semyonovo. Born into a musical family, he enjoyed natural gifts in composition and piano, but his childhood was tumultuous. After his father mismanaged the family estate, the family moved to a small apartment in St. Petersburg. Rachmaninoff also lost two of his sisters to early deaths.
• Growth as a student in Moscow: Rachmaninoff attended the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1892 at the age of 19 with the school's highest honor, the Great Gold Medal. His principal teacher, Nikolai Zverev, embraced Rachmaninoff's obvious piano virtuosity but discouraged his ambitions to compose. In spite of his teacher's disapproval, Rachmaninoff wrote extensively as a student. He completed his first opus, Piano Concerto No. 1, in 1891. Prior to graduation, he composed his first one-act opera, Aleko, which premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1892.
• Early professional life: Following graduation in 1892, Rachmaninoff performed his Prelude in C-sharp minor, an excerpt from his five-part Morceaux de fantaisie (Op. 3), making his professional stage debut as a pianist. In 1893, Rachmaninoff received an offer from his idol, Russian composer Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to conduct his piece The Rock. But before arrangements could be made, Tchaikovsky died. Rachmaninoff composed his Trio élégiaque No. 2 for piano, violin, and cello as a tribute to his fallen idol.
• Depression: Shaken by the death of his idol, Rachmaninoff endured several years of depression. Exacerbating this was a disastrous premiere of his Symphony No. 1 in 1897, after which rumors circulated that the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, had been drunk during the performance. Another obstacle was a controversial engagement to his cousin Natalia Satina—a marriage forbidden by her parents and the Russian Orthodox Church. During the last years of the nineteenth century, Rachmaninoff composed very little and sustained himself by teaching piano lessons. He started undergoing psychotherapy and hypnotherapy with the physician Nikolai Dahl. The treatment seemed to help, and Rachmaninoff began composing again. In 1901, he dedicated Piano Concerto No. 2 to Dr. Dahl.
• Marriage and success: Despite outside objections, Rachmaninoff married Natalia Satina in 1902. He then continued composing, completing the ambitious Variations on a Theme of Chopin (Op. 22) in 1903. From 1904 through 1906, he served as conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre, which yielded mixed artistic results.
• Dresden: Seeking new opportunities, Rachmaninoff moved his family to Dresden, Germany, in the autumn of 1906. During his Dresden period, he composed The Isle of the Dead (Op. 29), inspired by a painting by Arnold Böcklin. He also composed his second symphony and a second piano concerto. The family remained in Dresden until 1909.
• Return to Moscow: Rachmaninoff returned to Russia at the end of 1909, and in February 1910, he accepted the role of vice president of the Imperial Russian Musical Society. He clashed with the institution's culture and ultimately resigned. Afterward, Rachmaninoff traveled extensively, spending time in Switzerland, Rome, and England. Works from this era include a choral symphony based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Bells, which debuted in late 1913.
• A new life in America: When the Russian Revolution began in the winter of 1917, Rachmaninoff left, spending time in Finland, Sweden, and Norway before finally departing for New York City in the fall of 1918. Rachmaninoff arrived in America as an international music celebrity. He spent his years alternating between concert tours and new compositions. Highlights of his American period include the Piano Concerto No. 4, Three Russian Songs, and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
• Final years: In Rachmaninoff's later life, he performed frequently at the piano and on the conductor's stand. His final piece, Symphonic Dances (Op. 45), debuted with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1941. Declining health motivated him to move west to Beverly Hills, California. His last recital took place on February 17, 1943, at the University of Tennessee, where he played the Piano Sonata No. 2 by Chopin—famed for its funeral march. Rachmaninoff and his wife became naturalized American citizens in February 1943, but he died in March of that year. He is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Three primary characteristics define the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

1. 1. Piano virtuosity: In his lifetime, Rachmaninoff was considered Europe's greatest piano prodigy since Franz Liszt. His virtuosity emanates in his piano pieces, particularly his first piano concerto in F♯ minor and his third piano concerto in D minor. His études (music meant to be studied) and preludes require similar mastery of the instrument.
2. 2. Moody dramatics: Rachmaninoff allowed intense feelings to manifest in his music. His first symphony, The Isle of the Dead, and his choral symphony The Bells particularly exemplify this flair for drama.
3. 3. Strong orchestral technique: Rachmaninoff hails from a famed line of Russian orchestral composers who mastered the symphony orchestra through studies at the Moscow Conservatory. His three symphonies showcase his fluid understanding of instrumentation and dynamics.

A musical introduction to Sergei Rachmaninoff touches on an array of musical forms.

1. 1. Symphony No. 2 (Op. 27): A dramatic rebound after the failure of Rachmaninoff's first symphony, this piece demonstrates the composer's skill for orchestration.
2. 2. Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor (Op. 30): A highly popular concerto, this piece features challenging block chords that fit Rachmaninoff's massive hands but can be vexing for other pianists.
3. 3. The Isle of the Dead (Op. 29): Composed in 1908 when much of classical music was embracing modernism, this symphonic poem holds true to the musical language of Romanticism.
4. 4. The Bells (Op. 35): A choral symphony inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe poem, The Bells demonstrates Rachmaninoff's attraction to moody atmospherics.
5. 5. Aleko: This one-act, Russian-language opera was inspired by “The Gypsies,” a narrative poem by Alexander Pushkin. (Pushkin’s poetry has been a cornerstone of Russian art and culture since the early 1800s.)

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