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 There are few composers who, in their sheer audacity of spirit, leave a swath of scorched earth as broad as that left by Sergey Rachmaninoff. Over the course of his years in Russia, Denmark, and the United States, Rachmaninoff’s ongoing stylistic evolution drastically altered his audience’s expectations, as he first wrote pieces steeped in Russian folk Romanticism and then later created works of heart-felt Modernist compassion. A technically superior composer and a breathtaking performer, Rachmaninoff charmed audiences and critics alike with what could be considered the only music that could possibly follow in Tchaikovsky’s wake. And today, with the "Rach 3" so prominently featured in the movie Shine, a resurgence of respect and excitement about and around the figure of Rachmaninoff has enveloped amateur and professional music critics alike.
Rachmaninoff was born into a wealthy Russian family on April 1, 1873. Soon afterward, though, he would experience the first of many brushes with poverty. In 1882, Rachmaninoff’s father squandered the family fortune, had to sell the vast majority of their property, and moved the family to a small residence in St. Petersburg. Following this experience, Rachmaninoff would always be acutely aware of his financial status, and he went to great lengths to avoid being publicly humiliated like his father.
In 1885, after failing out of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Rachmaninoff moved to the Moscow Conservatory, where he began studies with his most influential mentor, Nikolay Zverev. At Zverev’s residence, along with several other young prodigies, Rachmaninoff would begin his practicing at six a.m. and go till late hours in the evening, often mingling with guests like Rubenstein, Taneyev, and Tchaikovsky. These were not only some of the most formative years for the young pianist/composer; they were also some of his most productive. In fact, while living at a cousin’s place after spending three years in Zverev’s one-room flat, the young talent ferociously complained that he could not concentrate with what he saw as continuous racket.
1892 marked Rachmaninoff’s departure from conservatory, where he finished his studies with a one-act opera, Aleko, his first piano concerto, the first of several elegies entitled Trio Elegiaque, and his Piano Prelude in C-sharp Minor. After receiving almost unanimous praise for these pieces (even Tchaikovsky wanted to conduct Aleko), Rachmaninoff seemed to find composing easy, and the next three years were full to the brim with feverish composition. However, upon the death of Tchaikovsky and the subsequent self-inflicted pressures to fill the master’s shoes, Rachmaninoff came up short. His first symphony (No. 1 in D Minor) was met with disastrous reviews, with one writer calling it "a program symphony of the Seven Plagues of Egypt." This abject failure would haunt the composer for the rest of his life.
In 1902, after recovering from a crippling depression, Rachmaninoff began work on his first important choral composition, Spring, a setting of Nekrasov’s delicate poem "The Verdant Noise." With his creative confidence much restored following the success of this composition, Rachmaninoff soon announced his engagement to Natalya Satina, his first cousin. (Because the Russian Orthodox Church refused to perform marriage ceremonies between cousins, one of Rachmaninoff’s aunts had to use her connections at the Kremlin’s Archangel Cathedral to procure a minister.) On May 12, 1902, in an army chapel outside Moscow with only a handful of family members present, Rachmaninoff and Natalya were married. The next year saw the birth of their first child, Irina, and the family unit was thus established.
To help support his family, the sporadic composer had a series of 10 consecutive highly productive years. He conducted at the Bolshoi Ballet, wrote and staged his own operas, and finished and premiered several of his most important compositions. Some of these compositions include: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor; the symphonic poem The Isle of the Dead; his first and second piano sonatas; 13 Preludes, op. 32; Etudes-Tableaux; 14 Songs, op. 34; and his most challenging work to date, the Third Piano Concerto.
In the wake of the October Revolution and the end of World War I, the Rachmaninoff family moved first to Stockholm, then to Copenhagen, and then, with the possibility of major financial gain on the horizon, to New York City. The man once known for his composing became an instant success on the concert circuit, giving 40 performances in four months throughout the United States and signing a recording contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company (soon to become RCA-Victor). Having secured his position as one of the premier performers in the U.S., Rachmaninoff and his family moved to Los Angeles and built a house mimicking the best of Russian culture, entertaining Russian guests, employing Russian servants, and observing Russian customs. It was as though the great composer of the East needed his muse transplanted in the West. This was 1921.
Rachmaninoff’s non-stop performance schedule during the next 20 years heightened the musician’s fame, though it allowed little time for the composer/pianist to enjoy his family and his (ever-dwindling) fortune. By 1940, Rachmaninoff began to slow down. His last compositions, Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and the third symphony (No. 3 in A Minor), were all well received, but the creative fire that had sparked the earlier classics had been sorely replaced by the economic fire of capitalist competition. In 1942, Rachmaninoff announced the upcoming touring season to be his last. Plagued by lumbago, arthritis, and extreme fatigue, the 69 year-old performer gave his last concert in Knoxville, Kentucky. Upon returning to the house in Beverly Hills and consulting local doctors, the overworked Rachmaninoff was diagnosed with cancer. He died in his sleep on the morning of March 28, 1943.
The prolific Russian musician wrote and performed illustrious compositions that still are unmatched in today’s world of classical music. Drawing on a profound number of traditions in his composing and performing, from French Romanticism to Russian folk dance, from the lyricism of the opera to the complex rhythms of the ballet, Rachmaninoff stands today as one of the preeminent modern figures of classical music.
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