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Sergei Rachmaninov was undoubtedly one of the greatest performers ever and nobody who heard him playing Beethoven’s Appassionata, Chopin’s B flat minor sonata or the Liszt transcriptions of Bach readily forgot him.

Rachmaninov’s father was an aristrocatric landowner who resigned his commission in the Cavalry’s Guards of the Imperial Russian Army and retired to his estate in the Novgord district where he became involved in various musical activities. Lyou Boutakovia, Rachmaninov’s mother had been born into a wealthy family and was also very interested in music so that when the four year old Sergei decided he wished to play the piano it was his mother who gave him his first piano lessons.

Inside two months, Rachmaninov had achieved what a normal child would take two years to accomplish on the piano and was playing quite difficult works to visitors. Soon his mother engaged Anna Ornazkaya, an ex student of the St. John Petersburg Conservatoire as his teacher.

Despite his interest in music Rachmaninov’s father wanted him to enter the military academy at St Petersburg but his mother was equally insistent that he should go to the Anton Rubinstein Conservatoire in the same city. The matter was resplved when Rachmaninov obtained a scholarship to the conservatoire and as his father had squandered all his money he ws allowed to take it up.

The abolition of serfdom meant that his father’s estate was no longer a viable commercial proposition and the family moved to a small flat in St Petersburg. After the move it was not long before his parents separated.

Rachmaninov was naturally lazy and often missed lectures to visit the ice rink. His teachers were not very inspiring and he became so bored that he began to improvise extensively.

However Rachmaninov’s mother realised that he was wasting a lot of time and on the advice of her cousin he was sent to study with Zverev who was quite prepared to resort to physical violence when he lost his temper. In addition he worked twelve hours a day and expected his students to do the same. Zverve also severely restricted the number of visits which students’ parents could make and rarely allowed his students to go home. However his enthusiasm for music and his unlimited generosity provided rich rewards to students who resided at his house.

When Anton Rubinstein visited Moscow to conduct his opera Demon, he took the opportunity to visit the Academy and Zverev arranged for his Rachmaninov to play Bach’s English Suite in A minor to him. Afterwards Rubinstein played Beethoven’s Sonata in F sharp (Opus 78) and in the following year gave a series of great recitals in Moscow and Rachmaninov was able to attend them. As a result Rachmaninov became familiar with Rubinstein’s expert use of the pedal which according to Rubinstein was “the soul of the piano”

Rachmaninov began to study harmony with Arensky who encouraged him to compose. Soon Rachmaninov wrote his study in E sharp and although it was in many respects a mediocre piece Zverev was sufficiently impressed to mention it to Tschaikovsky. This was the start of a valuable friendship and Tschaikovsky gave Rachmaninov permission to arrange his Manfred Symphony for Two Pianos.

In the final exam of the harmony course Rachmaninov’s marks were the highest ever in the history of the Conservatoire. As a result it was assumed that his future lay in composition and he was enrolled in Taneyev’s counterpoint class.

At the age of sixteen Rachmaninov was still living at Zverev’s house. Because of a quarrel with his room mate Rachmaninov asked Zverev for a room to himself. This precipitated a violent quarrel and Rachmaninov went to live with an aunt who also lived in Moscow. In September Rachmaninov went swimming in the river and for months afterwards was unwell. Eventually, his aunt called in Professor Metropolsky (one of Moscow’s most eminent doctors) and the condition was diagonosed as typhoid.

Rachmaninov was confined to bed for a few months and when he was allowed up discovered he had lost his talent for composing. However his skill returned in time for his final examinations at the Conservatoire and his setting of the one act opera Aleko was so favourably received by Zverev that he kissed Rachmaninov and presented him with his gold watch and chain. Rachmaninov was so touched by this gesture that he wore the gift for the rest of his life. In addition Rachmaninov was awarded the”Great Gold Medal”, the highest honour available at the Conservatoire and his name was inscribed on its Roll of Honour – a distinction only attained by two other students since the foundation of the College.

At this time he sold several of his works to a publisher and was delighted to obtain 500 roubles. Aleko was produced in 1893 at the Grand Theatre, Moscow and in the same year Rachmaninov gave his first public recital as a pianist, but the most important event that year was the publication of Pianoforte Pieces Opus 3, which included the Prelude in C sharp minor – a piece that has since been played by millions of amateur pianists.

During this period Rachmaninov was working mostly on compositions but his First Symphony was a disaster – as soon as he heard it rehearsed he knew it would fail.

Because of the popularity of the ‘Prelude’ in England the Royal Philharmonic Society invited him to perform in one of its concerts in the autumn of 1898. He conducted and played several piano pieces including the’Prelude’ and the visit was a resounding success. The Society invited him to play his Concerto No 1 in the following year but Rachmaninov said he would prefer to write a second concerto especially for the occasion and this was immediately agreed.

Unfortunately he became seriously depressed when he returned to Moscow with the result that the engagement was not fulfilled and he had to consult a psychiatrist.

In 1902 he married his cousin Natalie and they settled in Moscow. In 1905 he became a conductor of opera in the Imperial Theatre and a year later moved to Dresden.

He completed his Second Concerto but it was not heard outside Russia till 1908 when he was invited to play at a concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic Society and for the next few years he pursued a tripartite career as composer, pianist and conductor.

The Third Concerto was written specifically for his tour of America in 1909. During this tour he appeared as pianist and conductor at twenty concerts given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In the first performance of the Concerto the conductor was Damrosch and Rachmaninov himself was the soloist. Later it was performed under the baton of Mahler with Rachmaninov as soloist.

In 1910 Rachmaninov conducted his Second Symphony at the Leeds Festival and in 1914 gave a series of recitals in England.

When the 1914 – 1918 war broke out Rachmaninov was in Russia and during its early years gave many recitals for war charities including a tour of the principal Russian towns, in which he played the works of Scriabin, the great Russian composer who died in 1915.

Rachmaninov’s reaction to the 1917 Revolution is clearly expressed in his Recollections (published by George Allen and Unwin):

“Almost from the very beginning of the Revolution I realised that it was mishandled. Already by March 1917 I had decided to leave Russiia but was unable to carry out my plan, for Europe was still fighting and no one could cross the frontier…”

“The outbreak of the Bolshevik upheaval still found me in my old flat in Moscow. I had started to re-write my First Concerto for pianoforte, which I intended to play again, and was so engrossed with my work that I did not notice what went on around me… I sat at the writing table or piano all day without troubling about the rattle of machine guns and rifle shots…”

“Three or four days after the shooting in Moscow had begun I received a telegram suggesting that I should make a tour of ten concerts in Scandanavia.. I had difficulty obtaining a visa from theBolsheviks… Later I heard that I was the last to receive permission to leave Russia in a legal manner. I travelled to St Petersburg by myself… My wife with the two girls followed later and together we took the train which carried us via Finland to the Swedish frontier…”

Rachmaninov and his family crossed the frontier on a sledge during a blizzard and arrived at Stockholn on Christmas Eve. He played in all the main towns in Switzerland and formed the opinion that his piano playing offered him the best means of earning a living. Having reached this decision he realised that his repertoire was largly comprised of his own composition. Accordingly he rented a house in Copenhagen and began expanding his repertoire.

During this period he turned down an invitation to become the conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra but on realising the opportunities available in America he decided to go anyway.

Rachmaninov and his family arrived in New York on 10 November 1918 and witnessed the ecstatic celebrations on the following day.

His arrival was well timed because Paderewski was too involved with politics to give piano recitals and Charles Ellis (Paderewski’s agent) was on the lookout for another charismatic pianist.

In his first concert Rachmaninov played Schumann’s Carnival, the Chopin Sonata in B flat, and the Beethoven Appassionata. This was exactly what the American audiences craved and he received rapturous applause.

This was the beginning of Rachmaninov’s long career in the New World. He was especially associated with several of the great American orchestras. His performances with the conductor Stokowski and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra being particularly memorable.

1928 saw him tour Europe again and reaching the pinnacle of his fame. Extensive tours in Europe and America followed and these coupled with many recording sessions resulted in him neglecting his compositions so that he was known primarly as a pianist, despite having three symphonies and three concertos to his credit.

Rachmaninov did not return to Russia. For years he criticised the communist government and in 1951 his music was banned in the Soviet Union because it was representative of”the decadent attitude of the lower middle class” and”especially dangerous on the musical front… class war”

However he eventually modified his criticism and acknowledged what was praisworthy in the USSR’s efforts to promote the welfare and culture of the Russian people. To his great delight the ban was lifted and his works were again performed and studied in the USSR.