Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in Oneg, Novgorod, Russia, on April 1,
1873. He attended the St. Petersburg Conservatory for three years, and
his musical training ended at the Moscow Conservatory in 1892 when he
received a gold medal for a one-act opera, _Aleko_. In that same year he
also wrote the Prelude in C-sharp minor with which he became world
famous. His first piano concerto and his first symphony, however, were
dismal failures. In 1901 he scored a triumph with his Second Piano
Concerto which, since then, has been not only the composer’s most
celebrated composition in a large form but also one of the best loved
and most frequently performed piano concertos of the 20th century.
Rachmaninoff combined his success as composer with that as piano
virtuoso. Beginning with 1900 he toured the world of music achieving
recognition everywhere as one of the most renowned concert artists of
his generation. The first of his many tours of America took place in
1909. He also distinguished himself as a conductor, first at the Bolshoi
Theater between 1904 and 1906, and later with the Moscow Philharmonic.
As a composer he enhanced his reputation with a remarkable second
symphony, two more piano concertos, and sundry works for orchestra. He
was a traditionalist who preferred working within the structures and
with the techniques handed down to him by Tchaikovsky. Like Tchaikovsky
whom he admired and emulated, he wore his heart on his sleeve, ever
preferring to make his music the vehicle for profoundly felt emotions.
His broad rhapsodic style makes his greatest music an ever stirring
emotional experience. In 1917 Rachmaninoff left Russia for good,
establishing his permanent home first in Lucerne, Switzerland, and in
1935 in the United States. All the while he continued to tour the world
as concert pianist. His last years were spent in Beverly Hills,
California, where he died on March 28, 1943.
The Prelude in C-sharp minor, op. 3, no. 2 (1892) is Rachmaninoff’s most
popular composition; the transcriptions and adaptations it has received
are of infinite variety. He wrote it when he was nineteen and
instantaneously the piece traveled around the globe. Unfortunately, the
composer never profited commercially from this formidable success,
having sold the composition outright for a pittance. The Prelude opens
in a solemn mood with a theme sounding like the tolling of bells, or the
grim pronouncement by some implacable fate. The second theme is agitated
and restless, but before the composition ends the solemn first theme
recurs. Numerous efforts have been made to provide this dramatic music
with a program, including one which interpreted it in terms of the
burning of Moscow in 1812.
The Prelude in G minor, op. 23, no. 5, for piano (1904), is almost as
famous. The opening subject has the character of a brisk military march,
while the contrasting second theme is nostalgic and reflective.
The _Vocalise_, op. 34, no. 14 (1912) is one of the composer’s best
known vocal compositions. This is a wordless song—a melody sung only on
vowels, a “vocalise” being actually a vocal exercise. Rachmaninoff
himself transcribed this work for orchestra, a version perhaps better
known than the original vocal one. Many other musicians have made sundry
other transcriptions, including one for piano, and others for solo
instruments and piano.