Born: 1873, Semyonovo, Russia
Died: 1943, Beverly Hills

“Music is enough for a lifetime – but a lifetime is not enough for music.”

As a young composer, Rachmaninoff followed in the tradition of his idol Tchaikovsky, adding to his composing skills a phenomenal prowess as a pianist and great gifts as a conductor. As the new century developed around him, his music stubbornly retained many of the characteristics of his idol, but always with the unmistakably personal stamp of its creator. For many years Rachmaninoff was better known as a piano virtuoso, but his compositions have come to be acknowledged as supreme masterworks of the Russian school.

Further listening:
Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos (1900-1901)
Yefim Bronfman, Emanuel Ax
(Sony Classical)

Vespers (contralto, tenor, and chorus; 1915)
Olga Borodina, Vladimir Mostowoy,
St. Petersburg Chamber Choir,
Nikolai Korniev (Philips)