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The Flight Of The Bumblebee by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Artist Biography For Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff Russian Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов 1 April 1873 - 28 March 1943 Was A Composer Pianist And Conductor. Alternative Transliterations Of His Name Include Sergey Sergej Or Serge And Rachmaninov Rakhmaninoff. Rachmaninoff Was Born In 1873 In Semyonovo Near Novgorod In North-Western Russia. He Was Born Into A Noble Russian Family Who Had Been In The Service Of The Russian Tsars Since The 16th Century. His Parents Were Both Amateur Pianists. Rachmaninov Is Regarded As One Of The Greatest Pianists Of The Twentieth Century. He Had Legendary Technical Facilities And Rhythmic Drive And His Large Hands Were Able To Cover The Interval Of A Thirteenth On The Keyboard A Hand Span Of Approximately Twelve Inches . His Large Handspan Roughly Corresponded With His Height Rachmaninov Was 6 Feet 6 Inches 1.98m Tall According To Sources Citation Needed . He Also Had The Ability To Play Complex Compositions Upon First Hearing. Many Recordings Were Made By The Victor Talking Machine Company Recording Label Of Rachmaninov's Performing His Own Music As Well As Works From The Standard Repertory. His Reputation As A Composer On The Other Hand Has Generated Controversy Since His Death. The 1954 Edition Of Grove's Dictionary Of Music And Musicians Notoriously Dismissed His Music As "monotonous In Texture ... Consist Ing Mainly Of Artificial And Gushing Tunes ..." And Predicted That His Popular Success Was "not Likely To Last". 1 To This Harold C. Schoenberg In His Lives Of The Great Composers Responded "It Is One Of The Most Outrageously Snobbish And Even Stupid Statements Ever To Be Found In A Work That Is Supposed To Be An Objective Reference." Indeed Not Only Have Rachmaninov's Works Become Part Of The Standard Repertory But Their Popularity Among Both Musicians And Audiences Had If Anything Increased During The Second Half Of The Twentieth Century With Some Of His Symphonies And Other Orchestral Works Songs And Choral Music Recognized As Masterpieces Alongside The More Familiar Piano Works. His Compositions Include Among Others Four Piano Concerti Three Symphonies Two Piano Sonatas Three Operas A Choral Symphony The Bells Based On The Poem By Edgar Allan Poe The All-Night Vigil For Unaccompanied Choir Often Known As Rachmaninov's Vespers The Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini 24 Preludes Including The Famous Prelude In C-Sharp Minor 17 Études-Tableaux Symphonic Dances And Many Songs Of Which The Most Famous Is The Wordless Vocalise. Most Of His Pieces Are In A Melancholy Late Romantic Style Akin To Tchaikovsky Although Strong Influences Of Chopin And Liszt Are Apparent. Further Inspiration Included The Music Of Balakirev Милий Алексеевич Балакирев Mussorgsky Модест Петрович Мусоргский Medtner Николай Карлович Метнер Whom He Considered The Greatest Contemporary Composer And Who According To Schoenberg's Lives Returned The Compliment By Imitating Him And Henselt. Rachmaninov Was Born In Semyonovo Near Novgorod In North-Western Russia Into A Noble Family Of Tatar Descent Who Had Been In The Service Of The Russian Tsars Since The 16th Century. His Parents Were Both Amateur Pianists And He Had His First Piano Lessons With His Mother On Their Family Estate At Oneg However His Parents Noticed No Outstanding Talent In The Youngster. Because Of Financial Difficulties The Family Moved To Saint Petersburg Where Rachmaninov Studied At The Conservatory Before Moving To Moscow. There He Studied Piano Under Nikolay Zverev And Alexander Siloti Who Was His Cousin And A Former Student Of Franz Liszt . He Also Studied Harmony Under Anton Arensky And Counterpoint Under Sergei Taneyev. It Should Be Noted That In His Younger Days Rachmaninov Was Found To Be Quite Lazy Failing Most Of His Classes And Spending Much Time Skating. It Was The Strict Regime Of The Zverev Home A Place For Many Young Musicians Including Scriabin That Instilled Discipline In The Boy. Already In His Early Years He Showed Great Skill In Composition. While Still A Student He Wrote The One-Act Opera Aleko For Which He Was Awarded A Gold Medal In Composition His First Piano Concerto And A Set Of Piano Pieces Morceaux De Fantaisie Op. 3 1892 Including The Popular And Famous Prelude In C-Sharp Minor. According To Francis Crociata’s Liner Notes To RCA's 10-CD Set Of Rachmaninov’s Recordings The Composer Later Became Annoyed By The Public’s Fascination With This Piece Composed When He Was Just 19. He Would Often Tease An Expectant Audience By Asking “Oh Must I?” Or Claiming Inability To Remember Anything Else. Rachmaninov Confided In Zverev His Desire To Compose More Requesting A Private Room Where He Could Compose In Silence But Zverev Saw Him Only As A Pianist And Severed His Links With The Boy. After The Success Of Aleko However Zverev Welcomed Him Back As A Composer And Pianist. His First Serious Pieces For The Piano Were Composed And Performed As A Student At The Age Of Thirteen During His Residence With Zverev. In 1892 At Nineteen He Completed His Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 1 1891 Which He Revised In 1917. Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 1 Op. 13 1896 Premiered On 27 March 1897 In One Of A Long-Running Series Of "Russian Symphony Concerts" But Was Torn Apart By Critics. In A Particularly Vitriolic Review By César Cui It Was Likened To A Depiction Of The Seven Plagues Of Egypt And Suggested That It Would Be Admired By The "inmates" Of A Music Conservatory In Hell. It Is Often Mooted That The Criticisms Stem From Inadequacy Of The Performance. The Conducting Of Alexander Glazunov Is Often Remembered As A Problem He Liked The Piece But Was A Weak Conductor And Starved Of Rehearsal Time. Rachmaninov's Wife Later Suggested That Glazunov May Have Been Drunk And Although This Was Never Intimated By Rachmaninov It Would Not Seem Out Of Character. The Disastrous Reception Coupled With His Distress Over The Eastern Orthodox Church's Objection To His Marrying His Cousin Natalia Satina Contributed To A Period Of Severe Depression. He Wrote Little Music Over The Following Years Until He Began A Course Of Autosuggestive Therapy With Psychologist Nikolai Dahl An Amateur Musician Himself. Rachmaninov Quickly Recovered His Confidence. An Important Result Of These Sessions Was The Composition Of The Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 18 1900–01 Which Was Dedicated To Dr. Dahl. The Piece Was Very Well Received At Its Premiere At Which Rachmaninov Was Soloist And Remains One Of His Most Popular Compositions. Rachmaninov's Spirits Were Further Bolstered When After Years Of Engagement He Was Finally Allowed To Marry Natalia. They Were Married By An Army Priest In 1902 And Their Union Lasted Until The Composer's Death. After Several Successful Appearances As A Conductor Rachmaninov Was Offered A Job As Conductor At The Bolshoi Theatre In 1904 Although Political Reasons Led To His Resignation Two Years Later. In 1908 He Moved To Italy And Later To Dresden Germany While Waiting For The Political Situation In Russia To Normalize. Rachmaninov Made His First Tour Of The United States As A Pianist In 1909 An Event For Which He Composed The Piano Concerto No. 3 Op. 30 1909 . This Successful Tour Made Him A Popular Figure In America. Following The Russian Revolution Of 1917 Which Meant The End Of The Old Russia Rachmaninov And His Family Left For Stockholm In December Of 1917 And Never Returned To The Home Country Afterwards. They Settled Then In Denmark For A Year And Finally Started A 10 Days Voyage From Oslo To New York On November 1 1918 Which Marked The Beginning Of The American Period Of The Composer's Life. After Rachmaninov's Departure His Music Was Banned In The Soviet Union For Several Years. His Compositional Output Slowed Partly Because He Was Required To Spend Much Of His Time Performing To Support His Family But Mainly Because Of Homesickness He Felt That When He Left Russia It Was As If He Had Left Behind His Inspiration. The Falloff In Rachmaninov's Output Was Dramatic. Between 1892 And 1917 Mainly Living In Russia Rachmaninov Wrote 39 Compositions With Opus Numbers. Between 1918 And His Death In 1943 Mainly Living In The U.S. He Completed Only Six. As The Years Went On And He Became More And More Aware Of The Fact That He Would Never Again Return To His Beloved Homeland He Was Overwhelmed With Melancholia. Most People Who Knew Him Later In Life Described Him As The Saddest Man They Had Ever Known. Nevertheless His Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini Today One Of His Best-Known Works Was Written In Switzerland In 1934. He Went On To Compose His Symphony No. 3 Op. 44 1935–36 And The Symphonic Dances Op. 45 1940 His Last Completed Work. He Fell Ill During A Concert Tour In Late 1942 And Was Subsequently Diagnosed With Advanced Melanoma. Rachmaninov And His Wife Became American Citizens On 1 February 1943. His Last Recital Given On 17 February 1943 At The University Of Tennessee Alumni Gymnasium Prophetically Featured Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 In B Flat Minor Which Contains The Famous Funeral March. A Statue Commemorating Rachmaninov's Last Concert Stands In The World's Fair Park In Knoxville TN. Rachmaninov Died On March 28 1943 In Beverly Hills California Just A Few Days Before His 70th Birthday And Was Interred In Kensico Cemetery In Valhalla New York. In The Final Hours Of His Life He Insisted He Could Hear Music Playing Somewhere Nearby. After Being Repeatedly Assured That Was Not The Case He Said "Then It Is In My Head".
http //en.Wikipedia.Org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff

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