Rachmaninoff biography short

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Musical development, marriage - To top. Worshipped by piano virtuosos, this concerto is probably one of the most difficult and extreme in existence. His first serious pieces for the piano were composed and performed when he was thirteen years old during his stay as student at Zverev's. The 18th Rhapsody is especially popular, with a gloriously sweeping melody.

See more Best classical music. As a pianist he was famous for having a clean and almost impossibly precise sound , separating all the different textures in a piece so you could hear them individually. He continued to record for Ampico until around He was equally famous as a pianist and as a composer. In he moved to Italy and later to Dresden while waiting for the situation in Russia to normalize.

But because everything came easily to him he got lazy and didn't bother studying. He fell ill during a concert tour in the winter of But after a course of pioneering psychological therapy, he recovered and went on to compose even greater works. These are stamped with his trademark sound, and along with his concertos are primes examples of Rachmaninov's style of piano music.

He consistently amazed his teachers with his jaw-dropping ability as a pianist and composer. Rachmaninoff made his first recordings for Edison Records on their 'Diamond Disc' records, as at the time the Edison company had the best audio fidelity in recording the piano. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. It's a set of variations for piano and orchestra on a theme by Nicolo Paganini, the violin virtuoso.

Some have suggested that this was largely due to the conducting of Alexander Glazunov , who disliked the piece and under-rehearsed it. But he was deeply homesick for his native land , which had been lost forever. The Concerto was later revised in Home and origin - To top. About Contact Privacy. Honorary doctorate from the University of Nebraska.

Rachmaninov had bizarrely large hands , which meant he could cover about 1.

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This disastrous reception, coupled with his distress over the Orthodox church's objection to his marrying a cousin, Natalia Satina, led to a nervous breakdown. Login or. His technical perfection and rhythmic drive were legendary and his large hands were able to cover a twelfth. Most of his pieces are in a quite traditional romantic style, rather akin to Tchaikovsky , although a few of his later works, such as the fourth piano concerto and the Variations on a theme of Corelli are in a more emotionally detached style, which has made them rather less popular with audiences.

It's subsequent use in the film Brief Encounter have made it a constant favourite. Sergei Rachmaninov also spelled Rachmaninoff, — was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. He turned out the Piano Concerto no 2, which had a successful premiere. Rachmaninoff, from Victor advertisement.