Sergei Rachmaninoff Free Sheet Music, recordings, program notes and Biography

On March 28, 1897, the 24-year-old Sergei Rachmaninoff attended the premiere of his First Symphony in Saint Petersburg, anticipating a triumph. Instead, he witnessed a catastrophe. The conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was reportedly drunk and led a disastrous performance. The influential composer César Cui, a member of "The Five," wrote a savage review, stating, "If there were a conservatory in Hell... one of his students would have written a symphony like this." The sensitive Rachmaninoff was utterly crushed. The event plunged him into a deep depression that lasted for three years, leaving him creatively paralyzed. It was only through daily sessions with the neurologist and hypnotist Dr. Nikolai Dahl, who repeated the post-hypnotic suggestion "You will begin to write your concerto... It will be of excellent quality," that Rachmaninoff's confidence was restored. He emerged from the darkness and produced his Piano Concerto No. 2, a work of breathtaking beauty and passion that became one of the most beloved concertos ever written—a triumphant rebirth from the ashes of failure.

The Last Russian Romantic

Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff was born into a noble Russian family on their estate near Novgorod. Music was a part of his upbringing, and he demonstrated exceptional talent at the piano from a young age. He was enrolled at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory before transferring to the prestigious Moscow Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition. A star pupil, he graduated with the Great Gold Medal in 1892.

His early career was marked by immediate success. His one-act opera Aleko was praised by his idol, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and his Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2, became an international sensation, a piece that would follow him for the rest of his life, much to his chagrin. He was seen as the great heir to the Russian Romantic tradition of Tchaikovsky, with a gift for crafting long, lyrical melodies steeped in Russian melancholy.

Crisis and Rebirth: The Second Piano Concerto

The disastrous 1897 premiere of his First Symphony was the great crisis of Rachmaninoff’s life. The public humiliation and self-doubt silenced his compositional voice. For three years, he was unable to write. He focused instead on conducting, taking a post at a private opera company in Moscow.

His family and friends, alarmed by his prolonged depression, urged him to seek help from Dr. Dahl in 1900. The auto-suggestive therapy worked. Rachmaninoff’s creative spirit was unlocked, and the result was his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Premiering in 1901 with the composer as soloist, the work was an unmitigated triumph. Its lush orchestration, passionate themes, and brilliant piano writing restored his reputation and has remained his most popular work ever since. He gratefully dedicated the concerto to Dr. Dahl.

Virtuoso, Conductor, and Composer

In the years following the success of his Second Piano Concerto, Rachmaninoff was at the height of his powers. He was a "triple threat" in the musical world: a respected composer, a brilliant conductor (holding a post at the famed Bolshoi Theatre), and arguably the greatest piano virtuoso of his generation. Possessing famously large hands that could easily span a twelfth on the keyboard, his technical command was legendary, matched only by the emotional depth of his interpretations. During this period, he composed his magnificent Piano Concerto No. 3—a work of immense technical difficulty and lyrical beauty—his Symphony No. 2, and the choral symphony The Bells.

Life in Exile

Rachmaninoff’s life, and the world he knew, was shattered by the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. He and his family left Russia late that year, ostensibly for a concert tour of Scandinavia, but they would never return. He had lost everything: his beloved family estate, Ivanovka, which had been his spiritual and creative refuge; his homeland; and his identity as a Russian composer.

Settling first in Europe and then permanently in the United States, Rachmaninoff was forced to rely on his performing career to support his family. For the next 25 years, he lived the grueling life of a touring concert pianist, giving dozens of concerts a year. The immense demands on his time and energy, coupled with a deep, persistent melancholy and nostalgia for his lost country, severely curtailed his compositional output. The wellspring of his inspiration had been rooted in Russian soil, and now, in exile, he composed only a handful of major works.

Final Masterpieces and Enduring Legacy

Though he composed less frequently in exile, the works he did produce are masterpieces. They are imbued with a profound sense of loss and longing, a style that some critics at the time found old-fashioned in the new era of modernist music. These late works include his fiery and brilliant Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra, the deeply nostalgic Symphony No. 3, and his final major composition, the Symphonic Dances, which quotes musical motifs from his Russian past.

Sergei Rachmaninoff died of cancer at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on March 28, 1943, just days before his 70th birthday. He had become an American citizen only a few weeks prior. His legacy is that of the last, great flowering of Russian Romanticism. While other composers were exploring atonality and modernism, Rachmaninoff’s music remained rooted in soaring melody, rich harmony, and deep, heartfelt emotion. As a pianist, he set a standard of virtuosity that has rarely been matched. As a composer, he created a body of work that continues to move and thrill audiences around the world.

Section 4: References and Further Reading

• Bertensson, Sergei, and Jay Leyda. Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music. Indiana University Press, 2001.

• Harrison, Max. Rachmaninoff: Life, Works, Recordings. Continuum, 2005.

• Martyn, Barrie. Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor. Scolar Press, 1990.

• Riesemann, Oskar von. Rachmaninoff's Recollections. Translated by Dolly Rutherford, Allen, Towne & Heath, 1934.