Biography of Rachmaninov
Rachmaninov Sergey Vasilievich – Russian composer, conductor, pianist, representative of the direction of symbolism in music. In his work he united the principles of the St. Petersburg and Moscow composer schools
Childhood and Education
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov was born on March 20, 1873 in the estate of Oneg Novgorod province in a noble family. The future composer from early age was fond of music, at the age of 5 he played the piano under the direction of A. Ornatskaya.
In 1882, nine-year-old Rakhmaninov entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Since 1885, he studied first at the junior and then at the senior branch of the Moscow Conservatory in A. Ziloti, S. Taneev, A. Arensky.
A short biography of Rachmaninov would be incomplete without mentioning that during the years of training, the musician created a number of iconic works, including the 1st piano concerto. In 1893, Sergei graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire in piano classes and compositions
Becoming a musician
After graduating from the conservatory, Rachmaninoff was engaged in teaching activities. In 1897 he conducted at the Moscow Russian private opera, where he met Fedor Shalyapin.
Even after studying at the conservatory, Sergei Vasilyevich gained fame as a talented musician, but his popularity was interrupted after the unsuccessful premiere of the 1st symphony. The sharp criticism of Caesar Cui, N. Rimsky-Korsakov caused a deep depression, Rachmaninov, whose biography had not known any creative crises before. Almost three years the composer did not create anything.
In 1901, Rachmaninov completed his 2nd piano concerto. Since 1904 he worked as a conductor in the Bolshoi Theater. Since 1906, Sergei Vasilievich travels the world, visits Italy, Germany, America, Canada. In 1909 he created the third piano concerto.
Life and work abroad
After a short stay in Russia, at the end of 1917 Rachmaninoff again went on tour to Europe – first to Sweden, and then to Denmark, where he never returned to his homeland. In 1918, in Copenhagen,
At the end of 1918, Sergei Vasilevich left for the United States. Despite the stormy concert activity, at this time he practically did not create anything new. Only in 1926 – 1927 appeared the 4th piano concert and a number of small works. In 1941 Rakhmaninov finished his greatest work – “Symphonic Dances”.
Rakhmaninov Sergey Vasilievich died on March 28, 1943 in Beverly Hills in the United States. The great composer was buried in the cemetery of Kensiko.
Interesting Facts
- Rachmaninov’s creativity is usually attributed to the “silver age” of Russian art, it is saturated with complex symbols, including Christian motifs. Rachmaninov was born in a musical family. His grandfather, Arkady Alexandrovich, was a pianist, composed piano pieces, romances. At the age of 13 Rakhmaninov met Pyotr Tchaikovsky, who became a mentor for the young man. Diploma work of the musician in the Moscow Conservatory was his first opera – “Aleko”, created on the poem by Alexander Pushkin “The Gypsies”. In 1902 Rakhmaninov married Natalia Alexandrovna Satina, a relative of the father. They had two daughters.
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