So0phomore English teaches all of us about how the Romantic era—a reactionary movement to the Enlightenment—contrasted the previous age’s emphasis on logic and reasoning with an emphasis on emotion and nature. One of the many facets of this movement was a shift of art altogether: Everything from books to art and even music shifted to exemplify the new concepts that were gaining popularity at the time. Even during the twilight of the Romantic movement, amidst his peers’ gradual shift to Modernist ideas, one notable pianist and composer stuck to Romanticism as the foundation of his works. His name was Sergei Rachmaninoff, and he is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianist-composers of all time. But who was Sergei Rachmaninoff, and why is he considered such a significant composer?
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian pianist and composer born on April 1, 1873, in the village of Semyonovo in a family estate. His family, part of the Russian aristocracy, was in financial decline due to his father’s financial incompetence, preventing Rachmaninoff from joining the army, as his father could not afford to send him to a fancy military school. While this may have redirected Rachmaninoff away from his father’s goals, it allowed for Rachmaninoff to become one of the great Romantic composers.
Rachmaninoff’s mother was one of the first people to recognize a talent in her son, giving him piano lessons at the age of four. Then, the family hired Anna Ornatska, a recent graduate of the prestigious Saint Petersburg Conservatory, to give Rachmaninoff formal piano lessons. Then, when he turned ten, Ornatska arranged to have him go to the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with her former teacher Gustav Kross. Tragedy struck when, later that year, his sister Sofia died at the age of 13, and his father left the family for Moscow. Along with later tragedies, this gave his future work a melancholic and gloomy character. His grandmother, Sofia Litvikova Butakova, became the primary caretaker of Rachmaninoff, most notably emphasizing religion, taking Rachmaninoff to the Russian Orthodox church for sermons. The sound of the bells influenced his later works, most notably in his Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, which starts off with the piano sounding like the gongs of church bells.
During his time at the conservatory, Rachmaninoff did not fare well academically, failing general education classes and altering report cards. This led to Rachmaninoff’s cousin, Alexander Siloti, an accomplished pianist who studied under Franz Liszt, recommending to Rachmaninoff’s mother that Rachmaninoff should switch conservatories to learn under the tutelage of the more strict Alexander Siloti.
His rise to prominence started due to two of his compositions, the Prelude in C-sharp Minor—one of his more well-known works—and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 (as mentioned above). The Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2 became well known not just in Russia, but all throughout the world. Its popularity caused him great frustration later in life, as people repeatedly asked him to perform that piece over his later works. He thus refused to play the piece, despite the demands of the audience, causing “Rachmaninov [to be] Hissed for Refusing Encore,” as one 1923 headline described. His Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, is also well known, commonly referenced in pop culture, from Céline Dion’s “All By Myself” to the renowned movie Brief Encounter. This piece was created after Rachmaninoff’s battle with depression, as he overcame his fears of a bad reception after the disaster of his Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 13, in which a drunk and incompetent composer failed to properly compose the orchestra, causing a critic to say that it“would delight the inhabitants of Hell.” Rachmaninoff was able to overcome his depression thanks in large part to psychiatrist Nikolay Dahl, who put Rachmaninoff on a self-help routine that led to his eventual restoration of confidence. This gave him the strength to write the Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, which is dedicated to Dahl. Thankfully for Rachmaninoff, this piece, unlike his Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 13, was received quite well, preventing him from swearing off composition forever.
Going back to Romanticism, Rachmaninoff is known as a great Romantic composer, contrasting with the Modernist experimentation at the time through his characteristic emphasis on emotion, melody, and harmonies. One piece that exemplifies this is the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18, which exemplifies the emotions of sorrow, melancholy, and hope throughout its respective three movements. It uses harmony and melody together, such as in the second movement, where the piano, flute, and clarinet of the orchestra work together to create a dreamlike theme. The uplifting piano arpeggios, aligned with the delicate and lyrical melody of the flute and clarinet, work together to create a work that exemplifies Rachmaninoff’s Romantic status. Rachmaninoff’s heavy use of the minor keys also exemplifies his Romantic characteristics. They are used in all of his major orchestral works and many of his solo pieces, from his three symphonies and four concertos to his Cello Sonata in G minor and Op. 19 and The Isle of the Dead, Op. 29. This is not only Rachmaninoff using a solely technical choice for his works, but rather conveys the dark and mournful emotions that exemplified his past tragedies that he overcame. Rachmaninoff’s choice not only to express emotion, but to make it such a key component of his work, clearly shows his reliance on Romanticism, as he chooses the expression of his emotions as a key component of his work.
Rachmaninoff’s decision to stick with Romanticism not only preserved Romantic era music; it also bridged it to the 20th century. By embracing emotion and Romanticism ideas, he is remembered today not only for his virtuosic piano pieces, but for preserving Romanticism in its twilight, becoming the last great Romantic composer, the last Romantic hero.
Today, Rachmaninoff is still remembered for both his works and history, from his battle against depression to his works like the Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18. His story and works tell of a person who found the value in Romanticism, finding his inner truth over a wider artistic movement. So the next time you are reading a Romantic poem or writer, remember Rachmaninoff, not just for his virtuosic works, but for his position as the hero of Romanticism.