Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music. Early influences of Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and other Russian composers gave way to a thoroughly personal idiom notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness, dense contrapuntal textures, and rich orchestral colours. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output and he used his skills as a performer to fully explore the expressive and technical possibilities of the instrument. Born into a musical family, Rachmaninoff began learning the piano at the age of four. He studied piano and composition at the Moscow Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1892, having already written several compositions. In 1897, following the disastrous premiere of his Symphony No. 1, Rachmaninoff entered a four-year depression and composed little, until supportive therapy allowed him to complete his well-received Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1901. Rachmaninoff went on to become conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre from 1904–06, and relocated to Dresden, Germany, in 1906. He later embarked upon his first tour of the United States as a pianist in 1909. After the Russian Revolution, Rachmaninoff and his family left Russia permanently, settling in New York in 1918. Following this, he spent most of his time touring as a pianist through the US and Europe, from 1932 onwards spending his summers at his villa in Switzerland. During this time, Rachmaninoff's primary occupation was performing, and his compositional output decreased significantly, completing just six works after leaving Russia. By 1942, his declining health led him to move to Beverly Hills, California, where he died from melanoma in 1943. |
Birth and Death Data: Born April 1, 1873 (Starorussky Uyezd), Died March 28, 1943 (Beverly Hills)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1908 - 1946
Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, composer, arranger, conductor
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 201-225 of 294 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | CVE-92831 | 12-in. | 7/3/1935 | Prelude in G minor | Boston Pops Orchestra ; Arthur Fiedler | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | CVE-92832 | 12-in. | 7/3/1935 | Prelude in C sharp minor | Boston Pops Orchestra ; Arthur Fiedler | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BS-98393 | 10-in. | 12/23/1935 | The harmonious blacksmith | Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-98394 | 10-in. | 12/23/1935 | Scherzo | Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-98395 | 10-in. | 12/23/1935 | Mazurka in A minor | Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano solo | instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | BS-98396 | 10-in. | 12/23/1935 | Serenade | Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano solo | instrumentalist, piano, composer | |
Victor | B-[Unnumbered 1923-04-02-01] | 10-in. | 4/2/1923 | Tryst | Geraldine Farrar | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | B-[Unnumbered 1923-04-02-02] | 10-in. | 4/2/1923 | Here beauty dwells | Geraldine Farrar | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | B-[Unnumbered 1923-04-02-03] | 10-in. | 4/2/1923 | The fountain | Geraldine Farrar | Soprano vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | PBS-036401 | 10-in. | 8/9/1939 | Sorrow of spring | Donald Dickson ; Nathaniel Finston ; Victor Concert Orchestra | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | PBS-036402 | 10-in. | 8/9/1939 | Floods of spring | Donald Dickson ; Nathaniel Finston ; Victor Concert Orchestra | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BS-070685 | 10-in. | 1/23/1942 | Prelude in C sharp minor | Dorothy Donegan | Piano solo | composer | |
Victor | D5VB-1140 | 10-in. | 10/2/1945 | Rachmaninoff concerto no. 2 | Jack Fina ; Freddy Martin Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with piano solo | composer | |
Victor | XVE-1892 | 10-in. | 5/27/1928 | Sixth psalm | Russian Church Chorus | Vocal chorus | composer | |
Victor | BS-Test-1197 | 10-in. | 1/8/1935 | Preludio | Sergei Rachmaninoff | Piano solo | arranger, instrumentalist, piano | |
Victor | [Trial 1923-05-26-01] | 12-in. | 5/26/1923 | Polka | Shura Cherkassky | Piano solo | composer | |
Victor | [Trial 1926-02-22-05] | 10-in. | 2/22/1926 | Vanish my beautiful attires | Nadiejda Plevitzkaia | Female vocal solo, with piano | instrumentalist, piano | |
Columbia | 81428 | 10-in. | 12/19/1923 | At night | Tandy MacKenzie | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 30747 | 12-in. | 4/4/1912 | Prelude in C-sharp minor | Josef Hofmann | Piano solo | composer | |
Columbia | 37410 | 12-in. | 9/30/1915 | Prelude in C sharp minor | Gatty Sellars | Organ solo | composer | |
Columbia | 37467 | 12-in. | 11/9/1915 | Prelude in G minor | Josef Hofmann | Piano solo | composer | |
Columbia | 48533 | 12-in. | 12/29/1915 | Prelude in C sharp minor | Prince's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 49620 | 12-in. | 4/8/1919 | Prelude in C-sharp minor | Josef Hofmann | Piano solo | composer | |
Columbia | W140634 | 10-in. | 5/28/1925 | In the silence of the night | Oscar Seagle | Baritone vocal solo, with piano | composer | |
Columbia | W144915 | 10-in. | 10/26/1927 | Minuet | José Echániz | Piano solo | arranger |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Rachmaninoff, Sergei," accessed April 24, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102117.
Rachmaninoff, Sergei. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 24, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102117.
"Rachmaninoff, Sergei." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 24 April 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Сергей Рахманинов
Discogs: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Allmusic: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Apple Music: Sergei Rachmaninoff
IMSLP: Sergei Rachmaninoff
RISM: Sergei Rachmaninoff
IMDb: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Britannica: Sergei Rachmaninoff
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Rachmaninoff, Sergei, 1873-1943 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50054908
Wikidata: Сергей Рахманинов - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q131861
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/60326614
MusicBrainz: Сергей Рахманинов - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/44b16e44-da77-4580-b851-0d765904573e
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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