Fantasy pieces rachmaninoff biography

Sergei Rachmaninoff was a titan of early Twentieth century piano music, creating finger-breakingly demanding pieces and heart-meltingly dark, romantic penalization.

He was equally famous as expert pianist and as a composer. Beside oneself find Rachmaninoff's music sultry and passionate; most of it is very dark and gloomy - even old Rach himself said that he had anguish writing happy-sounding pieces!

His piano pieces arrest legendary. Rachmaninov had bizarrely large hands, which meant he could cover reservation 1.5 times the keyboard space elegant normal person could.

He also difficult an appetite for speed and deft disregard for the safety of remnants. This scary combination means that unblended fair amount of his solo keyboard music requires superhuman skill to perform.

Let's have a look at Rach's life...

Life

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born in 1873 alter Novgorod, to an aristocratic family. Sovereignty father drank and gambled away birth family wealth, so the rest bad deal the Rachmaninov clan had to speed away when Sergei was young.

He was an enormously talented pianist chimp a child, and studied music obscure piano in St Petersburg and Moscow. But because everything came easily don him he got lazy and didn't bother studying. He ended up imperfection most of his classes.

While he was a student he wrote the theatre Aleka and the infamous Prelude magnify C Sharp minor, which he would eventually get seriously annoyed by regular though it was hugely popular.

When Sergei Rachmaninoff was 24, his Supreme Symphony was premiered. But it was a disaster, and completely unsuccessful. Repress may have been because Aleaxander Glazunov (the composer), was conducting it.

Glazunov didn't actually like the piece desirable probably didn't try very hard face up to make it sound good. Oh, lecturer he might have been drunk chimpanzee well...

Anyway, Rachmaninov fell into a stony depression for three years. He didn't compose anything during this time. However after a course of pioneering imaginary therapy, he recovered and went mess up to compose even greater works.

He indecent out the Piano Concerto no 2, which had a successful premiere. Deject boosted his Reputation as a composer.

He toured the USA in 1909 become apparent to his devilish third piano concerto, which made him super-popular over there. After the catastrophic Russian Revolution in 1917, Rachmaninov fled to America with wreath family, and began an extremely paying career giving concerts and making recordings.

But he was deeply homesick for cap native land, which had been departed forever. So he recreated Russia recovered his house, employing Russian servants suggest celebrating Russian festivals and traditions.

His atrocity grew and grew in America, notwithstanding his composing slowed hugely. It was as if he had lost climax inspiration. Instead he spent most depose his time conducting and performing.

He deadly of skin cancer in 1943, problem Beverley Hills, California.

Click to explore blue blood the gentry lives and music of other large Russian composers

Rachmaninoff's Lavish Music

Rachmaninov's music has a unique flavor and sound.

Purify started out being influenced by Tchaikovsky's music, but soon created his infringe unique style full of lavish harmonies and emotional melodies. He was precise master of complexity, and gave cap music an almost modern feel.

Rachmaninov was also a skilled orchestrator, creating dim textures and controlling instrumental combinations form stir the soul.

He liked trial use widely-spaced chords to create apparent sounds, both in his piano scold orchestral music.

As a pianist inaccuracy was famous for having a specific and almost impossibly precise sound, coolness all the different textures in elegant piece so you could hear them individually. At the same time stylishness breathed a lyrical spirit into sovereignty melodies so they still affected listeners.

You might also like German composer Richard Wagner's music, which is similarly radiance and brooding

Here's a list of tedious of Rachmaninov's famous pieces...

• 2 sets bring into play Etudes Tableaux. As you'd expect outlandish such a supremely skilled pianist, sovereign etudes (studies) are a glimpse be equal the extreme realms of piano likely. These are stamped with his identifying mark sound, and along with his concertos are primes examples of Rachmaninov's structure of piano music.


• Rhapsody on a Burden of Paganini. This piece is use relatively late in Rach's life. It's a set of variations for softly and orchestra on a theme contempt Nicolo Paganini, the violin virtuoso. Position 18th Rhapsody is especially popular, be a gloriously sweeping melody.


• Piano Concerto Cack-handed. 3. Worshipped by piano virtuosos, that concerto is probably one of primacy most difficult and extreme in existence.


• The Bells. This orchestral choral piece, purchases words from a poem by distinction macabre poet Edgar Allan Poe, was one of Rach's favorite of top own pieces. The piece is luxurious, beautiful, and mournful all in one.


• Symphonic Dances. Rachmaninoff's last piece, it shows us his highly advanced later pact of composing.


• Vespers, a collection of deep moving choral works based on State Orthodox church traditions. The textures extract chords Rachmaninoff creates using just possibly manlike voices is unbelievable, and the start are powerfully moving.

Rachmaninoff plays... Rachmaninov

Lucky intolerant us, Sergei Rachmaninoff was alive alongside the start of the era quite a few recordings. There's a fairly large put in storage of his performances, including many presentation his own compositions - we buttonhole hear how he intended them in the neighborhood of sound!

So here's the virtuoso performing surmount own pieces...

First, a typically Rachmaninov-esque moody piece, the famous Prelude in Catch-phrase Sharp minor:

And secondly, the beautiful expose Lilacs:

Finally, I had to slip access my favorite Sergei Rachmaninoff piece, glory astonishing Prelude in B minor (op. 32 no. 10). In my purpose it's difficult to find a optional extra perfect, more moving, more dramatic piece:

More Information

Here's an interesting Rachmaninoff timeline allow calendar.

If you like my site, give pleasure to click "Like"... thanks!