Composers › Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
The last great Russian Romantic: a legendary pianist, with huge hands and unforgettable melodies.
Life
He was born in 1873 in the Novgorod region of north-western Russia, into a noble family that had fallen on hard times. He studied at the conservatories of St Petersburg and Moscow, where he graduated with the gold medal.
The failure of his First Symphony in 1897 threw him into a deep crisis; he came out of it with the help of the physician Nikolai Dahl and in 1901 presented his Second Piano Concerto, dedicated to him, which became a worldwide success.
After the 1917 Revolution he left Russia and never returned: he lived between the United States and Switzerland, working as a concert pianist. He died in Beverly Hills, California, in 1943.
Portrait: Kubey-Rembrandt Studios (1921), public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.
Curiosities
- He had very large hands: he could span the interval of a thirteenth, far more than an ordinary pianist.
- He wrote the Prelude in C-sharp minor in 1892, aged 19: it became so famous that audiences demanded it as an encore at every concert.
- He was one of the greatest pianists of his time and left many recordings of his own playing.
At the piano
- Play the big chords with the weight of the arm, not with finger strength.
- If a chord is too wide for your hand, you can roll it quickly from the bottom.
- Shape the contrasts: from the three solemn opening strokes to the agitated middle section.
Pieces to learn 1 piece
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