Sergei Rachmaninoff: The Pianist’s Pianist & Composer

Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, born in 1873, was expected to have a career as a military officer, like his father before him. But in those days, a career as a military officer was considered the province of the aristocracy, or at least the wealthy. Before Sergei reached his teens, his father had squandered the family fortune through a series of poor decisions, and a military career was no longer in reach. Fortunately, the boy’s musical gifts had already made themselves known, giving him an alternate career path as a professional musician.

During his early teen years, young Sergei attended the Saint Petersburg Conservatory — where he was by all accounts a terrible student. He made a habit of cutting classes and sliding by on his natural talent, which, while considerable, still needed training and practice to progress.

Later, Sergei Rachmaninoff went to Moscow to study there under a renowned teacher, Nikokai Zverev. Here Zverev managed to instill discipline into the young man. Here too, Rachmaninoff heard Tchaikovsky perform. This made a great impression on Rachmaninoff, and he idolized Tchaikovsky for the rest of his life.

Also in Moscow, at the age of 19, Rachmaninoff wrote his first opera, Aleko, for which he won a gold medal in a competition. He also wrote some of his early piano works, including his Prelude in C-Sharp minor.

Rachmaninoff spent much of his life touring as a concert pianist to support himself and his family, and was considered by many to be the best pianist of the 20th century. He was involved in some of the earliest efforts to record music, performing for the inventor of recording technology, Thomas Edison and his Edison Records company. Rachmaninoff later recorded for the RCA Victor company, and was also involved in recording on piano rolls for the Aeolian Company and American Piano Company. His surviving recordings are still acknowledged as classics.

Because he spent so much time touring, Rachmaninoff’s compositional output was irregular. At times he suffered from writer’s block. For instance, after the disastrous response to the premiere of his First Symphony, Rachmaninoff lost confidence and did not compose again for nearly three years. He only regained his confidence after psychological counseling.

Imagine if he had stopped composing then! The world would never have been graced with works such as Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, which was the first piece he produced after this dry spell. This is now considered one of the greatest classics of piano literature.

Another setback came about as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Rachmaninoff, his wife, and their two daughters fled Russia with little more than the clothes on their back and a handful of notebooks with the composer’s musical sketches. Indeed, they were lucky to escape with their lives.

For the next 25 years until his death in 1942, Rachmaninoff composed very few works. In fact, he composed very little until he managed to purchase some land on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. There he had built a summer home in 1932, which he called Villa Senar and which reminded him of his lost Russia. Here he began composing regularly again, producing well-known piano works such as Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and symphonic works such as Symphony No. 3 and Symphonic Dances. This last, produced in 1940, was Rachmaninoff’s final completed work.

A great pianist, resilient in adversity, and a brilliant composer, Rachmaninoff’s musical influence can still be felt today.