Sergei Vasil'yevich Rachmaninoff. (Semyonovo, 1873 - Beverly Hills, 1943)

Rachmaninoff was born to a musical family in Semyonovo in the district of Novgorod. A sensitive youth, he suffered from the family's frequent moves, the death of his sister and his parents' separation, and in 1885 he failed his end-of-term examinations in all general subjects at the St Petersburg Conservatory. It was only under the strict tutelage of the Moscow piano professor Zverev, who took him into his home together with two other pupils, and other master teachers at the Moscow Conservatory that Rachmaninoff began to develop as a piano virtuoso and composer. His final examination in composition brought him the institution's highest award in 1892. Recognition outside the Conservatory's walls was to come only much later. The failure of his First Symphony in 1897 (conducted by the composer Glazunov, who was said to have been drunk at the time) and a poorly received private performance for the elderly Tolstoy of his latest songs, with the great singer Chaliapin, plunged Rachmaninoff into a deep depression. For three years he was unable to compose, but he was engaged to conduct the Moscow Private Russian Opera, where he acquired a sound knowledge of both Russian and Western opera. In April 1899 he made his London debut at the Queen's Hall. Nicolai Dahl, a psychotherapist who for some years had been specialising in hypnosis, was able to stabilise his condition, and his desire to compose returned, reaffirmed by the success of his Second Piano Concerto, first performed in November 1901. There were also difficulties caused by Rachmaninoff's decision to marry his cousin Natalya Satina; the Russian Orthodox Church forbids marriage between first cousins, but the intervention of one of Rachmaninoff's aunts made it possible for the wedding to take place at a military chapel on the outskirts of Moscow.
In 1909 Rachmaninoff undertook his first tour of America, enjoying great success as a conductor. He took with him the score of his Third Piano Concerto, which he had composed during the previous summer. Despite many contract offers in the USA, Rachmaninoff was anxious to return home, and withdrew to Ivanovka, the country estate that had been recently been made over to him by his uncle, a place where he could recover from his strenuous concert tours and compose in peace. When chaos broke out in Russia towards the end of 1916 with widespread strikes, and the anti-tsarist movement had reached the boiling point, Rachmaninoff considered emigrating. Opportunity presented itself with the offer of a concert engagement in Stockholm in the autumn of 1917 and, with his family in tow, Rachmaninoff left Russia for good, abandoning money and possessions.
By the end of 1918 he had received lucrative offers from America. Rachmaninoff had come to realise that a regular income was essential for the survival of his family; he declined the offers, but saw the US as the possible answer to his financial worries. He went with his family to New York and signed a contract with the agent Charles Ellis, who arranged nearly 40 concerts within a period of only four months, and accepted the offer of a piano from Steinway & Sons. In 1920 he signed a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company, and the following year the family bought a house on New York's Riverside Drive, where they studiously recreated the atmosphere of their beloved Ivanovka, complete with Russian guests, servants and customs. In Paris he founded a publishing firm to bring out works by himself and other Russian composers, and in the US he limited his engagements to allow himself more time in Europe. By the summer of 1939, however, he decided that it would be safer for his family to return to the USA. He resolved that the tour of 1942-43 would be his last, and in 1942 he bought a house in Beverly Hills. But what was diagnosed at first as pleurisy in January 1943 turned out to be cancer. Having given his last concert on 17 February in Knoxville, Tennessee, Rachmaninoff died at his new home on 28 March.

Harvey Sachs

Biographical notes (c) 1996, by permission of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Hamburg

A selection of major works:

Orchestral: Caprice bohémien, The Isle of the Dead, 4 Piano Concertos, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (piano and orchestra), The Rock, Symphonic Dances, 3 Symphonies,

Chamber: 2 Piano Trios (Trios élégiaque), 6 Morceaux (piano duet), 2 Suites (for 2 pianos), Cello Sonata, 2 Morceaux de Salon (cello and piano), Symphonic Dances (version for 2 pianos)

Instrumental solo: "Chopin" Variations, "Corelli" Variations, Etudes-Tableaux, Moments musicaux, Morceaux de fantaisie, Morceaux de salon, Preludes, 2 Piano Sonatas

Vocal/Choral: The Bells, Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, The Lord's Prayer, Songs, Vespers, Vocalise
Stage works:

Operas: Aleko, Francesca da Rimini, The Miserly Knight, Monna Vanna