Summary Sergey Vasilievich Rachmaninov


SERGEI VASILYEVICH RAHMANINOV

1873-1943

Rachmaninov – a remarkable composer, pianist and conductor – wrote a bright page in the history of the world musical culture. In five piano concertos, three symphonies, operas and cantatas, compositions for pianoforte and romances, unique features of his work are depicted: the severity of life conflicts, pathetics, soulful lyricism.

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov was born on March 20 (April 1) in 1873 in the Novgorod province. From the age of four he studied piano. Serious music studies began at the Moscow Conservatory, where his teachers in composition were SI Taneyev and AS Arensky on piano – A. Ziloti. In 1891, Rachmaninov graduated from the conservatory as a pianist, and the following year – as a composer

Rakhmaninov’s bright artistic personality was revealed in the conservative years – in the First Piano Concerto (1891) and in the Aleko Opera (1892). The soon-to-be-written symphonic

fantasy The Cliff (1893), The First Symphony (1895), etc., testified to the diversity of his creative interests.

The real heyday came at the beginning of the 20th century with the creation of such remarkable works as the Second (1901) and Third (1909) piano concerts, the Second Symphony (1907), piano preludes and sketches, the operas The Miserly Knight (based on Pushkin, 1904) and “Francesca da Rimini” (according to Dante, 1904).

In 1917, Rachmaninoff went on a foreign concert tour and stayed in America. Away from his homeland, he experienced a painful creative crisis. After a ten-year pause, the Fourth Concert (1926), the Rhapsody on Paganini’s Piano and Orchestra (1934), The Third Symphony (1936) and Symphonic Dances (1940) appeared. One of the main themes in these works was the theme of a distant homeland. During the Great Patriotic War, the composer followed the heroic struggle of the Soviet people with deep interest and sympathy.

Rakhmaninov died on March 28, 1943 in Los Angeles (California).


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Summary Sergey Vasilievich Rachmaninov