Sergei Rachmaninoff (also spelled Rachmaninov) was a legendary Russian-American
composer and pianist who fled Russia after the Communist revolution of
1917, and became one of the highest paid concert stars of his time, and
one of the most influential pianists of the 20th century.
He was born Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov on April 2, 1873, on a large
estate near Novgorod, Russia. He was the fourth of six children born to
a noble family, and lived in a family estate, where he enjoyed a happy
childhood. Rachmaninoff studied music with his mother from age 4; continued at
the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and continued at the Moscow
Conservatory with professors Arensky, Taneyev and Tchaikovsky. He graduated in 1892, winning the Great Gold Medal for his new opera
"Aleko."
He was highly praised by
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , who
promoted Rachmaninov's opera to the Bolshoi Theater in 1893. But the
disastrous premiere of his 1st Symphony, poorly conducted by A.
Glazunov, coupled with his distress over the Russian Orthodox Church's
pressure against his marriage, caused him to suffer from depression,
which interrupted his career for three years until he sought medical
help in 1900. He had a three-month treatment by hypnotherapist, Dr. Dahl, aimed
at overcoming his writer's block. Upon his recovery, Rachmaninov
composed his brilliant 2nd Piano Concerto, and made a comeback with
successful concert performances. From 1904 to 1906 he was a conductor at
the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. From 1906 to 1909, Rachmaninoff lived and worked in Dresden, Germany. There he composed his 2nd Symphony.
In 1909, Sergei Rachmaninoff made his first tour of the United States having
composed the 3rd Piano Concerto as a calling card. He appeared as a
soloist with Gustav Mahler conducting the
New York Philharmonic. His further work on merging Russian music with
English literature culminated in his adaptation of a poem by
Edgar Allan Poe into choral symphony,
"The Bells," which Rachmaninov considered to be among the best of his works.
In 1915 he wrote the choral masterpiece: "All-Night Vigil" (also known
as the Vespres), fifteen anthems expressing a plea for peace at a time
of war. The terror of Russian Revolution and the destruction of his
estate forced him to emigrate. On December 23, 1917, Rachmaninov left
Russia on an open sledge carrying only a few books of sheet music.
As a pianist, Sergei Rachmaninov made over a hundred recordings and gave over
one thousand concerts in America alone between 1918 and 1943. His
concert performances were legendary, and he was highly regarded as a
virtuoso pianist with unmatched power and expressiveness. Rachmaninoff's technical perfection was legendary. His large hands were able to span a twelfth, that is an octave and a half or, for example, a stretch from middle C to high G. Rachmaninoff was highly regarded for accuracy on the piano keyboard, which he achieved through arduous practice by repeating difficult passages many times in a very slow tempo. In many of his original compositions, Sergei Rachmaninoff used musical allusions ranging from folk songs to oriental music and jazz. Unusually
wide chords and deeply romantic melody lines were characteristic of his
compositions. Besides his own music, he often performed pieces by
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Frédéric Chopin ,
Franz Liszt and
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
In 1931, Rachmaninov signed a letter condemning the Soviet regime, that
was published in the New York Times. There was retaliation immediately,
and his music was condemned by the Soviets as "representative of
decadent art." However, the official censorship in the Soviet Union
could not stop the popularity of Rachmaninov's music in the rest of the
world. During the 1930s and 1940s, he remained one of the highest paid
concert stars.
During the 1930s, Rachmaninoff shared his time between Europe and America, because he was booked for numerous live performances in major cultural centers on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1932, Rachmaninoff with his family moved to his newly built Villa 'Senar' on Lake Luzern. There he replicated the layout of his estate that was destroyed by Russian revolution of 1917. The villa became a new home for the family and a center of cultural life, as Rachmaninoff was visited by notable musicians, such as Horowitz, writers, such as Bunin, and even Maharaja with family from India. For his guests, Rachmaninoff often played his music on the new concert grand piano that was presented to him by Hamburg Steinway company. Using that piano, Rachmaninoff composed his famous Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini in 1934. In 1939, with the onset of World War 2, Rachmaninoff left Europe and moved to America for good.
At his home on Elm Drive in Beverly Hills, Rachmaninoff had two Steinway
pianos which he played together with
Vladimir Horowitz and other
entertainers. His love of fast cars was second to music, and led him to
occasional fines for exceeding the speed limit. Since he bought his
first car in 1914, Rachmaninov acquired a taste for fast cars, buying
himself a new car every year. His generosity was legendary. He gave
away 5000 dollars to Igor Sikorsky to
start an American helicopter industry. He paid for
Vladimir Nabokov and his family
relocation from Paris to New York. He sponsored
Michael Chekhov and introduced him to
Hollywood.
Sergei Rachmaninoff gave numerous charitable performances, and donated large
sums of money to fighting against the Nazis during WWII. He became a
US citizen in 1943, just a few weeks before his death. In his last
recital, in February, 1943, Rachmaninov played Chopin's Piano Sonata
No. 2, featuring the famous "Funeral march." The New York Times obituary of March 28, 1943, stated that Sergei V. Rachmaninoff, pianist, composer and conductor, who for fifty years had been a leader in the music world on two continents, died today at his Beverly Hills home of complications resulting from pneumonia and pleurisy, which twice had caused him to cancel recitals here this month.
Rachmaninoff was survived by his wife and two daughters who arranged for his burial in Kensico Cemetery,
New York. Over the years, Soviet and Russian authorities made numerous claims to re-bury the composer in Moscow, Russia, but the Rachmaninoff family successfully opposed due to the fact that Sergei Rachmaninoff made his choice to be a citizen of the United States.
