Sergey Rachmaninoff

In 1905, the Russian Revolution erupted. Rachmaninoff was working as a conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre during this time. Because of the political turmoil, he and his family had to move to Dresden, Germany where he wrote Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, The Isle of the Dead, and the Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor. 

He performed and conducted in the United States as well, as part of the concert season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with conductor Max Fiedler. They worked together from 1909 to 1910. In total, Rachmaninoff had 26 performances: 19 as pianist and 7 as conductor. He also performed in Philadelphia and Chicago conducting his own compositions. The Symphony No. 2 is the most significant piece that he had until today. 

In Moscow, he performed a piano recital for wounded Russian soldiers who fought in the war. He revised his Piano Concerto No. 1 along with gunshots and rallies outside. He eventually left Petrograd for Helsinki with his wife and daughters in December 1917. 

He was so in demand in the 1922-23 concert season when he gave more than 70 performances. He built a house in Los Angeles when he had enough money, which was a replica of his house in Moscow.

Rachmaninoff is a very isolated composer, only having a few family members and a small circle of friends. He longed for Russia and the Russian people, which had a bad effect on his creativity. He rewrote some of his earlier work and produced a few new ones. His final tour was in 1943 while he was already seriously ill. His final recital on February 17, 1943 included the funeral march by Chopin which seems very prophetic. Rachmaninoff’s last major work is called the Symphonic Dances for orchestra, in 1940. He died two years after, four days before his birthday, suffering from a lot of illnesses like sclerosis, lumbago, neuralgia, high blood pressure, and headaches. But melanoma would become the ultimate cause of his death.