Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов), (1 April 1873 — 28 March 1943), was a Russian-American composer, pianist, and conductor. He was one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, very nearly the last great representative of Russian late Romanticism in classical music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom which included a pronounced lyricism, expressive breadth, structural ingenuity and a tonal palette of rich, distinctive orchestral colors.
The piano features prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output, either as a solo instrument or as part of an ensemble. He made it a point to use his own skills as a performer to explore fully the instrument's expressive possibilities. Even in his earliest works, he revealed a sure grasp of idiomatic piano writing and a striking gift for melody.
Most famous for his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor and Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, as well as his piano-solo Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2. The third concerto was featured in the movie Shine, for what it's worth.
Rachmaninoff and his family left Russia after the 1917 revolution and settled in America, where he made his living as a touring pianist and had little time for composing. He had a final burst of creativity in the 1930s, producing several well-regarded works including one of his biggest hits, the "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini".
He is mentioned as being dead in the song "Decomposing Composers" by Michael Palin sang on Monty Python's Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Tropes:
- The Ace: Rachmaninoff was considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, as well as an accomplished composer and conductor.
- Darker and Edgier: His later works experimented with more modern textures and harmony, although he still remained within the realm of romanticism.
- Deathly Dies Irae: Rachmaninoff was obsessed with the Dies Irae motif and worked it into many of his compositions, some of them related to death ("The Isle of the Dead") and others having nothing explicitly to do with it at all ("Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", "Symphonic Dances").
- It Always Rains at Funerals: His Etude-Tableau in C minor, Op. 39 No. 7 is a rare instrumental example. As their name suggests, the Etudes-Tableaux have a narrative angle, but Rachmaninoff largely shied away from specifics in the interest of allowing the performer and/or listener to write their own stories. However, when Ottorino Respighi arranged five of the pieces for orchestra, Rachmaninoff told him this étude depicts a funeral marked by "fine incident and incessant rain"; the rain begins to fall most audibly at around the halfway mark, and continues until a climax representing the pealing of church bells.
- Patriotic Fervor: His melodies are frequently based on, or inspired by, Russian folk tunes and the chants of the Russian Orthodox Church, and his music makes frequent references to the famous bells of Moscow (which the Prelude in C♯ minor was named after).
- Romanticism: He's often considered the last of the Romantics, and was sometimes considered anachronistic amidst the newer wave of modernist and atonal composers by critics.
- Standard Snippet: The 18th variation of the Paganini Rhapsody and his Prelude in C♯ minor.
- Theme and Variations: His famous Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is based on a theme by Paganini. He also wrote a set of variations on a theme of Fryderyk Chopin and on a theme of Corelli, although these are less known.
