“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. He is considered the last romantic among the great Russian composers. Browse our sheet music and scores, and explore all his magnificent works today!
Unfortunately, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s childhood cannot be described as a particularly happy one. He was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, whose fortunes were soon dashed by his father’s decadent and debauched lifestyle, squandering all their money on mistresses and gambling. After his parents separated, the boy was sent to live with his grandmother, who recognised and nurtured his musical talents. At the age of nine, he joined the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. Despite his brilliant piano technique, and great musical talent, Rachmaninoff did not thrive at school, and was eventually sent off to Moscow, where he studied under the excellent teacher, Nikolai Zverev. It was in Moscow, that Rachmaninoff first began composing.
At the end of the 1890s, the young Rachmaninoff suffered two cruel turns of fate, both his close friend Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his teacher Nikolai Zverev died. His 1st Symphony premiered in 1897, and although it was conducted by Alexander Glazunov, the performance was so lacking, that Rachmaninoff couldn’t bear to listen to any more, got up, and left the auditorium well before the end of the piece. The work was mercilessly slammed by the critics, and Rachmaninoff suffered a nervous breakdown. In the following three years, Rachmaninoff struggled to even pick up his quill.
It was not until after 1901 that Rachmaninoff finally turned back to music. He began to work as a conductor in Moscow, and slowly began to travel and perform again, first through Europe, and then the United States as a pianist and conductor. Soon however, the political situation in Russia became so dire, that in 1917, Rachmaninoff and his entire family bade a sad farewell to their homeland, never to return. They emigrated first to Scandinavia, and then in 1918, to America. He spent the final years of his life in the US and Switzerland, where he found peace in his villa, where he would retire after exhausting concert tours.
Stylistically, Sergei Rachmaninoff belongs to neo-romanticists, although his ideas were very original. His works are richly nationalistic, and encapture the essence of the Russian folk tradition. Rachmaninov was inspired by the typically Russian, expressive, romantic motifs and melodies of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Today, it is still possible to find recordings of Rachmaninoff’s piano playing; one can sit back, and admire his remarkable interpretive and expressive skills, and one can gain an insight into the composer’s inner thoughts, as he masterfully navigates his own magnificent works.
arranged for double bass and piano
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 635954
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404224
op. 42
for: Piano
Item no.: 617081
for two pianos
for: 2 pianos
Ensemble score
Item no.: 683251
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 152481
for: Horn, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404469
Versions 1913 and 1931
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 679499
Item no.: 1653481
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197743
for: 2 violins, piano
Item no.: 343787
Klassik
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 1591212
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 631133
op. 16
for: Piano
Item no.: 357258
for: Oboe [flute], violin, cello, piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 343786
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160814
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 457008
Sinfonische Dichtung für Orchester
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 135492
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197686
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197742
for: FL (OB) KLAV (+ VC)
Item no.: 1667734
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197740
for piano duet
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 197700
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 767294
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 367054
Two-Piano Score
for: Piano, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 161407
for: Piano, orchestra
Piano reduction (2 piano's)
Item no.: 903341
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1552161
op. 3, op. 10, op. 16 (SR 25, SR 33, SR 40)
Rachmaninoff Practical Urtext Editions 2
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 676416
for piano duet (one piano, four hands)
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 161324
Russian Piano Classics – Authentic Edition
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197620
Suite Nr. 1
for: 2 pianos
Piano score
Item no.: 197739
(Urtext)
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 617082
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 617083
Score
Item no.: 430029
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 198011
Two-Piano Score
for: Piano, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 161409
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 338435
op. 45
for: Orgel (2 Spieler)
Item no.: 648489
Urtext Edition, clothbound
for: Piano
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1640747
for: 2 pianos
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 161410
Boosey Masterworks
for: Orchestra and Piano
Score
Item no.: 361698
Urtext Edition, clothbound
for: Piano
Music score (Hardcover, Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1640744
Boosey Masterworks
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 373489
for: 2 pianos
2 Scores
Item no.: 157103
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 247103