Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: Серге́й Васи́льевич Рахма́нинов, tr. Sergéj Vasíl'evič Rahmáninov; 1 April [O.S. 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian pianist, composer, and conductor of the late-Romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular in the classical repertoire. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century.

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Russian Rhapsody for two pianos (1891)
Русская рапсодия (Russkaya rapsoidya

Vladimir Ashkenazy and André Previn

While still a student at Moscow Conservatory, Rachmaninoff wrote to Natalia Skalon on January 22, 1891 mentioning that he had begun work on a piece for two pianos that he wanted to play with his first cousin Alexander "Sasha" Siloti. He dated the manuscript January 12–15, 1891 [O.S., implying that he had the composition in his head at the time of the letter, and only recorded the days he notated it on paper. Despite his stated intentions, he began rehearsing with Leonid Maximov, who had been a fellow student of Nikolai Zverev and pupil of Siloti, to play at a student concert at the Conservatory on March 8, 1891. However, Zverev, still upset over Rachmaninoff's request for a separate composing room, did not allow them to play together, so at the concert Rachmaninoff ended up conducting his choral work Deus Meus (1890) instead. The Rhapsody received its first performance after he graduated, on October 29, 1891, played by Rachmaninoff and Josef Lhévinne at the Conservatory.

The piece is more often described as a set of variations rather than a true rhapsody, and a letter from Rachmaninoff's friend Vladimir Wilshaw describes the possible origin of the composition as a session in which Rachmaninoff improvised on a melody set forth by pianist Yuri Sakhnovsky. Although both he and Lhévinne were more than capable performers, after the premiere, Rachmaninoff considerably simplified three passages. This is cited as the first of many future instances in which he would revise some of his pieces for no apparent reason, since it could not have been the ability of the performers that caused him to do so.

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