“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.
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 486287
From All-Night Vigil
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 766494
Oper in 2 Akten
for: Opera
Score
Item no.: 277885
for: Mixed choir, concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1314771
The Bells of Moscow
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1314885
for: Mixed choir, concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1314774
Klassik
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1285549
for: Concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1314888
Symphonic Series
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1001256
Symphonic Series
for: Fanfare
Score, Parts
Item no.: 999398
for: Piano, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1665540
Breitkopf Urtext Edition
for: Piano, orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1633838
for: Piano, orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1202285
Great Classics
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 873553
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 910274
Symphonic poem for orchestra op. 29
on a painting by Arnold Böcklin
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 1009112
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1315318
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 864533
Symphonic Poem after a painting by Arnold Böcklin
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 796656
First Movement
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 873139
Opus 18
for: Piano and Symphonic Band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1198640
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1198194
Movement 3: Allegro Assai op. 45
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 655279