Sergei Rachmaninoff: A Lifetime in Music [Paperback]

I found this book extremely helpful and a joy to read. I have used it as a resource for a Rachmaninoff class that i am creating and also for my own pleasure. It spans through Rachmaninoff's life, going in-depth to look at glimpses of Rachmaninoff's life with family, and then meticulously explores his music career.It looks into what inspired him, his meetings with other famous composers, his performances, and includes many letters about his personal life that he wrote to his family and friends. Overall, an excellent look into the life of a composer about whom we do not know much.

This 1956 book is a 2001 reissue and might qualify as the seminal book to appreciate the life of Sergei Rachmaninoff. It comprises some commentary by Bertensson and Leyda (they act as interlocutors of a sort), but, more importantly, it is a series of lengthy excerpts from letters by Rachmaninoff, family, friends, music critics and newspapers; carefully arranged with commentary by time and place to give an in depth and candid overview of the life of this composer, pianist and conductor. While the authors' gentle and admiring sensitivity to the composer enhance the story, their touch is neither intrusive nor annoying. Criticism comes from various music critics identified by name, date of the performance and publication. The appendix is a complete and valued listing of Rachmaninoff's work and records at the time of publishing. A learned introduction is provided by a professor from Temple University.

The role of music critic during his time had more influence than it does in today's world. In 1919, after
a performance, a typically snotty Boston critic challenged Rachmaninoff whether real genius was compatible with popularity. The shy, affable Rachmaninoff responded "Yes, I believe it is possible to be very serious, to have something to say, and at the same time to be popular. I believe that. Others do not. They think - what you think." A century after his riposte, there is hardly - and hardly has been - a season for any symphony which does not include the Rhapsody, the Concertos and the Symphonies.

His Second and Third Concertos have been fertile soil for movie themes since the 1920s; in "Brief Encounter," his Second Concerto is as much a star as Trevor Howard. The First Movement of the Third Concerto was snapped up by Philip Glass in his theme music for "the Hours." The list goes on and on.

As a pianist, his commitment to performing was passionate throughout his life continuing up until just before his death in 1943. In 1942 alone, he gave 41 performances. His fees for these late-in-life performances were for the relief of the Russian people during the German invasion. Rachmaninoff was an impresario pianist, familiar with and expert in the playing his compositions and the works of Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin. One of Saint Saens piano concertos was so complex and difficult that Saint Saens asked Rachmaninoff to premiere the work rather than Saint Saens himself.

The trajectory of his life astonishes; born and trained in Russia, escaping his beloved country one month after the October 1917 Revolution, escaping the impending war in Europe in 1939, to living in the New York and Los Angeles at the end of his death. Tchaikovsky was his mentor; Tolstoy, one who counseled him early in his life; Chaliapin, Rimsky Korsakov and Horwitz, close friends; Koussevitzky, his agent and intermediary in the United States and Europe; and Ormandy, the most trusted conductor of his favorite symphonies. What is especially enjoyable is reading the letters and the comments of many of these notables on their influence and involvement in Rachmaninoff extraordinary career and life.

This book is very thouroughly written, drawing on resources of Rachmaninoff's relatives, letters that Rachmaninoff himself wrote, and of personal interactions. It gives a glimpse into Rachmaninoff's private life, which very little is known about, and shows Rachmaninoff for the true musical genius that he is.

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