Rachmaninoff: Keyboard Works
View all works by Rachmaninoff in the main appExplore the complete catalog of Keyboard compositions by Rachmaninoff. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.
| Title | Year | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Preludes, op. 32 |
Thirteen Preludes (Russian: Тринадцать прелюдий, Trinadtsat' prelyudiy), Op. 32, is a set of thirteen preludes for solo piano, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1910. It complements his earlier Prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 3/2, and 10 Preludes, Op. 23, to complete the full set of 24 Preludes in all 24 major and minor keys. |
|
| 2 Pieces for Piano 6-Hands, TN ii/22 |
The Miss Tennessee competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Tennessee in the Miss America Scholarship Competition. Zoe Scheiderich Nashville was crowned Miss Tennessee 2025 on June 14, 2025, at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. She competed for the title of Miss America 2026, placing in the Top 11 and earning a Preliminary Fitness Award. |
|
| 2 Pieces, TN ii/17 |
The Partita No. 3 in E major for solo violin, BWV 1006.1 (formerly 1006), is the last work in Johann Sebastian Bach's set of Sonatas and Partitas. It consists of the following movements: Preludio Loure Gavotte en Rondeau Menuets (I and II) Bourrée Gigue It takes about 15–18 minutes to perform. Bach transcribed the Partita as a suite, cataloged as BWV 1006.2 (formerly 1006a). The music critic Wilhelm Tappert claimed in 1900 that this arrangement was for lute solo, but present research indicates that it was for an unspecified instrument. The Preludio consists almost entirely of semiquavers (i.e. sixteenth notes). The Preludio was also transcribed by Bach for use in two cantatas: the sinfonia which opens the second part of the 1729 cantata Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a. the opening sinfonia, scored for obbligato organ, oboes, trumpets and strings, of the 1731 cantata Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, in D major The "Gavotte en Rondeau" is included on the Voyager Golden Record and often heard in TV or radio programs. In 1933 Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano (and subsequently recorded) the Preludio, Gavotte, and Giga from this partita (as TN iii/1). An arrangement of the Preludio for jazz trio by Jacques Loussier appeared on his Reflections of Bach album of 1987 and was used as the theme of the BBC Radio 4 music quiz show Counterpoint. Eugéne Ysaÿe's Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor also quotes the Preludio in the first movement. |
|
| 3 Nocturnes, TN ii/13 |
This is a list of songs that are featured in Andamiro's Pump It Up video game series. Pump It Up's in-house musician group BanYa was responsible for original songs in the series under dance pop, rock, heavy metal, jazz, folk, progressive and house genres, including EDM remixes of classical pieces such as Canon in D, Turkey March and Moonlight. In Fiesta, MAX, Doin and SHK (originally from O2Jam) joined as new in-house musicians. Since 1st Dance Floor, there are a large number of licensed K-pop songs. Starting with Pump It Up Premiere and onward, international songs are included mostly from North America, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, China, and elsewhere. In almost all versions, BanYa was also responsible for nonstop remixes that mix numerous K-pop and world music songs, especially original songs (examples are J Knows that Old Bong, World Remix, Turkey Virus, K-pop Dance, Chicago Club Mix, etc.), but they are available in Remix Station (Special Zone in NX) or WorldMax in NX2 and NXA (Quest World in Fiesta). Starting with Exceed 2, full songs are added only in separate stations. |
|
| 3 Pieces, TN ii/19 |
Music performed a cappella ( AH kə-PEL-ə, UK also AK ə-PEL-ə; Italian: [a kkapˈpɛlla]; lit. 'in [the style of] the chapel'), less commonly spelled a capella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphonic and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve. |
|
| 4 Piano Pieces |
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between June 1900 and April 1901. The piece established his fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces. After the failure of the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Op. 13) in March 1897, Rachmaninoff continued to compose some short pieces for piano, song and choral work while appearing in a number of concerts as an opera conductor. Just as he was finally beginning to recover from his ordeal, in January 1900, he had the opportunity to meet with the great Lev Tolstoy. However, he once again lost confidence after receiving harsh criticism for his original song "Fate" (Op. 21-1). After an unsuccessful meeting with Tolstoy meant to revoke his writer's block, relatives decided to introduce Rachmaninoff to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl. Between January and April 1900, Rachmaninoff underwent hypnotherapy and supportive therapy sessions with Dahl on a daily basis for over 3 months, specifically structured to improve his sleep patterns, mood, and appetite and reignite his desire to compose. That summer, Rachmaninoff felt that "new musical ideas began to stir" and successfully resumed composition. In July 1900, Rachmaninoff finally composed the "Love Duet," a key scene in the opera Francesca da Rimini, which was to be completed in 1906. This song was written earlier than his Piano Concerto No.2, which he began composing in the autumn of 1900, and the "Love Duet" became an important work that marked Rachmaninoff's rebirth as a composer. He first worked on the second and third movements of the concerto, with the first movement causing him difficulties. Both movements of the unfinished concerto were first performed with him as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting on 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1900. The first movement was finished in 1901, and the complete work had an astoundingly successful premiere on 9 November [O.S. 27 October] 1901, again with the same duo. Gutheil published the concerto the same year. Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to Dahl for successfully treating him by restoring his health and confidence in composition. |
|
| 4 Pieces, TN ii/12 |
Leonard Pennario (July 9, 1924 – June 27, 2008) was an American classical pianist and composer. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School. He remained in Los Angeles his entire career. He first came to notice when he performed Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto at age 12, with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The scheduled performer had fallen ill, and Pennario's piano playing had come to the attention of the conductor Eugene Goossens, who recommended him as the soloist after being assured by Pennario that he knew the work. In fact, he had never seen the music or even heard it, but he learned it in a week.He was proud of mastering the piece after school without missing any time from class. He studied with Guy Maier, Olga Steeb, and Isabelle Vengerova and attended the University of Southern California, where he studied composition with Ernst Toch. World War II interrupted his career, and he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in the China Burma India Theater, where his piano skills were soon realized and served well entertaining troops of the Air Transport Command operation known as "The Hump". He occasionally had to play around keys missing from the keyboards of the pianos at a couple of the more remote bases. He was discharged in 1946 as a staff sergeant and was awarded three Battle Stars. He had, however, made his debut, in uniform, with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on November 17, 1943, with Artur Rodziński, playing Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1. Shortly after Sergei Rachmaninoff's death, the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos invited Leonard Pennario to be the soloist at a memorial concert, playing the Second Piano Concerto with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Pennario became the first pianist after the composer himself to record all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. His recording of the Rachmaninoff 2nd Concerto was used for the film September Affair (1950), in which Joan Fontaine plays a concert pianist preparing to play the concerto. Beginning in the 1960s, he played in a renowned trio with the violinist Jascha Heifetz and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. Miklós Rózsa wrote a piano concerto for Pennario, and he was the soloist in the first performance, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta. Pennario recorded over 60 LPs, most of them of composers dating from Chopin and later. He is perhaps best known for championing certain modern composers such as George Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Rózsa, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and Sergei Prokofiev. In 1958, he was tied with Walter Gieseking in terms of best-selling classical records involving the piano. Pennario retired from active performance and recording in the 1990s. He wrote some pieces of his own, such as Midnight on the Cliffs, March of the Lunatics, and a 4-hand arrangement of Chopin's Minute Waltz. He was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in October 2007. As well as being well represented in music encyclopedias, he was a Life Master in tournament bridge, and is listed in The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, most notably winning an Open Pairs event in China in 1991. He was once part of a celebrity foursome with Don Adams, Les Brown and Jack Benny's daughter Joan Benny. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease on June 27, 2008 at the age of 83, in La Jolla, California. An authorized biography of Leonard Pennario is currently being written by Buffalo News music critic Mary Kunz Goldman. |
|
| 6 Duets for Piano 4-Hands, op. 11 |
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between June 1900 and April 1901. The piece established his fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces. After the failure of the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Op. 13) in March 1897, Rachmaninoff continued to compose some short pieces for piano, song and choral work while appearing in a number of concerts as an opera conductor. Just as he was finally beginning to recover from his ordeal, in January 1900, he had the opportunity to meet with the great Lev Tolstoy. However, he once again lost confidence after receiving harsh criticism for his original song "Fate" (Op. 21-1). After an unsuccessful meeting with Tolstoy meant to revoke his writer's block, relatives decided to introduce Rachmaninoff to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl. Between January and April 1900, Rachmaninoff underwent hypnotherapy and supportive therapy sessions with Dahl on a daily basis for over 3 months, specifically structured to improve his sleep patterns, mood, and appetite and reignite his desire to compose. That summer, Rachmaninoff felt that "new musical ideas began to stir" and successfully resumed composition. In July 1900, Rachmaninoff finally composed the "Love Duet," a key scene in the opera Francesca da Rimini, which was to be completed in 1906. This song was written earlier than his Piano Concerto No.2, which he began composing in the autumn of 1900, and the "Love Duet" became an important work that marked Rachmaninoff's rebirth as a composer. He first worked on the second and third movements of the concerto, with the first movement causing him difficulties. Both movements of the unfinished concerto were first performed with him as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting on 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1900. The first movement was finished in 1901, and the complete work had an astoundingly successful premiere on 9 November [O.S. 27 October] 1901, again with the same duo. Gutheil published the concerto the same year. Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to Dahl for successfully treating him by restoring his health and confidence in composition. |
|
| 6 Moments musicaux, op. 16 |
Six moments musicaux (French for "Six Musical Moments"; Russian: Шесть музыкальных моментов, romanized: Shest’ muzykál’nykh moméntov), Op. 16, is a set of solo piano pieces composed by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff between October and December 1896. Each Moment musical reproduces a musical form characteristic of a previous musical era. The forms that appear in Rachmaninoff's incarnation are the nocturne, song without words, barcarolle, virtuoso étude, and theme and variations. The individual pieces have been described as "true concert works, being best served on a stage and with a concert grand." Although composed as part of a set, each piece stands on its own as a concert solo with individual themes and moods. The pieces span a variety of themes ranging from the funeral march of number three to the canon of number six, the Moments musicaux are both Rachmaninoff's return to and revolution of solo piano composition. A typical performance lasts 30 minutes. In an interview in 1941, Rachmaninoff said, "What I try to do, when writing down my music, is to make it say simply and directly that which is in my heart when I am composing." Even though Moments musicaux were written because he was short of money, the pieces summarize his knowledge of piano composition up to that point. Andantino opens the set with a long, reflective melody that develops into a rapid climax. The second piece, Allegretto, is the first of the few in the set that reveal his mastery of piano technique. Andante cantabile is a contrast to its two surrounding pieces, explicitly named "funeral march" and "lament." Presto draws inspiration from several sources, including the Preludes of Frédéric Chopin, to synthesize an explosion of melodic intensity. The fifth, Adagio sostenuto is a respite in barcarolle form, before the finale Maestoso, which closes the set in a thick three-part texture. |
|
| Bach: Prelude, Gavotte, and Gigue from Partita in E for Solo Violin, TN iii/1 | ||
| Behr: Lachtaubchen, op. 303, "Polka de WR" | ||
| Bizet: Minuet from L'Arlesienne-Suite no. 1, TN iii/3 | ||
| Canon in D minor, TN ii/14 |
This is a list of songs that are featured in Andamiro's Pump It Up video game series. Pump It Up's in-house musician group BanYa was responsible for original songs in the series under dance pop, rock, heavy metal, jazz, folk, progressive and house genres, including EDM remixes of classical pieces such as Canon in D, Turkey March and Moonlight. In Fiesta, MAX, Doin and SHK (originally from O2Jam) joined as new in-house musicians. Since 1st Dance Floor, there are a large number of licensed K-pop songs. Starting with Pump It Up Premiere and onward, international songs are included mostly from North America, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, China, and elsewhere. In almost all versions, BanYa was also responsible for nonstop remixes that mix numerous K-pop and world music songs, especially original songs (examples are J Knows that Old Bong, World Remix, Turkey Virus, K-pop Dance, Chicago Club Mix, etc.), but they are available in Remix Station (Special Zone in NX) or WorldMax in NX2 and NXA (Quest World in Fiesta). Starting with Exceed 2, full songs are added only in separate stations. |
|
| Canon in E minor |
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 to 1906, and relocated to Dresden, Germany, in 1906. He later embarked upon his first tour of the United States as a concert 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 in 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. |
|
| Chopin: Variations on a Theme by Chopin, op. 22 |
Frédéric Chopin wrote a number of preludes for piano solo. His collection of 24 Preludes, Op. 28, covers all major and minor keys. In addition, Chopin wrote three other preludes: a prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 45; a piece in A♭ major from 1834; and an unfinished piece in E♭ minor. These are sometimes referred to as Nos. 25, 26, and 27, respectively. |
|
| Etude-tableaux Op.33 |
The Études-Tableaux ("study pictures"), Op. 33, is the first of two sets of piano études composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff (the other being his opus 39). They were intended to be "picture pieces", essentially "musical evocations of external visual stimuli". But Rachmaninoff did not disclose what inspired each one, stating: "I do not believe in the artist that discloses too much of his images. Let [the listener] paint for themselves what it most suggests." However, he willingly shared sources for a few of these études with the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi when Respighi orchestrated them in 1930. |
|
| Etudes-tableaux, op. 39 |
The Études-Tableaux ("study paintings"), Op. 39, is the second of two sets of piano études composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Op. 39 was composed sometime between 1916 and 1917 and were among the final works composed by Rachmaninoff before his exit from Russia. |
|
| Four Pieces |
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19 was completed on 20th November 1901, premiered by cellist Anatoliy Brandukov, the dedicatee of the work and Rachmaninoff's friend, with the composer at the piano, on 2nd December 1901 in Moscow . The final version was completed 10 days after the premiere, 12th December 1901. Rachmaninoff regarded the role of the piano as not just an accompaniment but equal to the cello. Most of the themes are introduced by the piano, while they are embellished and expanded in the cello's part. |
|
| Fughetta in F |
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 to 1906, and relocated to Dresden, Germany, in 1906. He later embarked upon his first tour of the United States as a concert 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 in 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. |
|
| Fugue in D minor |
D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B♭, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: |
|
| Kreisler: Liebesfreud |
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked portamento and rubato. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately recognizable as his own. Although it derived in many respects from the Franco-Belgian school, his style is nonetheless reminiscent of the gemütlich (cozy) lifestyle of pre-war Vienna. |
|
| Kreisler: Liebesleid |
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked portamento and rubato. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately recognizable as his own. Although it derived in many respects from the Franco-Belgian school, his style is nonetheless reminiscent of the gemütlich (cozy) lifestyle of pre-war Vienna. |
|
| Lento in D minor, TN ii/11 | ||
| Liszt: Cadenza on Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2, TN iii/6 | ||
| Morceau de Fantaisie in G minor, "Delmo" |
The composer Sergei Rachmaninoff produced a number of solo piano pieces that were either lost, unpublished, or not assigned an opus number. While often disregarded in the concert repertoire, they are nevertheless part of his oeuvre. Sixteen of these pieces are extant; all others are lost. Ten of these pieces were composed before he completed his Piano Concerto No. 1, his first opus, and the rest interspersed throughout his later life. In these casual works, he draws upon the influence of other composers, including Frédéric Chopin and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The more substantial works, the Three Nocturnes and Four Pieces, are sets of well-thought out pieces that are his first attempts at cohesive structure among multiple pieces. Oriental Sketch and Prelude in D minor, two pieces he composed very late in his life, are short works that exemplify his style as a mature composer. Whether completed as a child or adult, these pieces cover a wide spectrum of forms while maintaining his characteristic Russian style. |
|
| Morceaux de fantaisie, op. 3 |
Morceaux de fantaisie (French for Fantasy Pieces; Russian: Пьесы Фантазии, Pyesy Fantazii), op. 3, is a set of five piano solo pieces composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1892. The title reflects the pieces' imagery rather than their musical form, as none are actual fantasies. The set was dedicated to Anton Arensky, his harmony teacher at the Conservatory. |
|
| Morceaux de salon, op. 10 | ||
| Mussorgsky: Hopak from opera 'Sorochintsy Fair', TN iii/8 | ||
| Nyne otpushchayeshi |
The All-Night Vigil (Pre-reform Russian: Всенощное бдѣніе, Vsénoshchnoye bdéniye; Modern Russian: Всенощное бдение) is an a cappella choral composition by Sergei Rachmaninoff, his Op. 37, premiered on 10/23 March 1915 in Moscow. The piece consists of settings of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. It has been praised as Rachmaninoff's finest achievement and "the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church". It was one of Rachmaninoff's two favorite compositions along with The Bells, and the composer requested that its fifth movement (Нынѣ отпущаеши, Nunc dimittis) be sung at his funeral. The title of the work is often mis-translated as Vespers. This is both literally and conceptually incorrect as applied to the entire work; only the first six of its fifteen movements set texts from the Russian Orthodox canonical hour of Vespers. |
|
| Paganini: Variation no. 18 Andante cantabile |
The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, (Russian: Рапсодия на тему Паганини, Rapsodiya na temu Paganini) is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto, all in a single movement. Rachmaninoff wrote the work at his summer home, the Villa Senar in Switzerland, according to the score, from 3 July to 18 August 1934. Rachmaninoff himself, a noted performer of his own works, played the piano part at the piece's premiere on 7 November 1934, at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Rachmaninoff, Stokowski, and the Philadelphia Orchestra made the first recording, on 24 December 1934, at RCA Victor's Trinity Church Studio in Camden, New Jersey. The English premiere on 7 March 1935 at Manchester Free Trade Hall also featured Rachmaninoff with The Hallé conducted by Nicolai Malko. The best-known variation in the piece is the 18th variation, frequently selected in isolation in classical music compilations. |
|
| Piano Piece in A flat major |
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 to 1906, and relocated to Dresden, Germany, in 1906. He later embarked upon his first tour of the United States as a concert 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 in 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. |
|
| Piano Piece in D minor |
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, was composed in the summer of 1909. The piece was premiered on November 28 of that year in New York City with the composer as soloist, accompanied by the New York Symphony Society under Walter Damrosch. The work has the reputation of being one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical piano repertoire. |
|
| Piano Sonata no. 1 in D minor, op. 28 |
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30, was composed in the summer of 1909. The piece was premiered on November 28 of that year in New York City with the composer as soloist, accompanied by the New York Symphony Society under Walter Damrosch. The work has the reputation of being one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical piano repertoire. |
|
| Piano Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor, op. 36 |
The Piano Sonata No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 35, is a piano sonata in four movements by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Chopin completed the work while living in George Sand's manor in Nohant, some 250 km (160 mi) south of Paris, a year before it was published in 1840. The first of the composer's three mature sonatas (the others being the Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 and the Sonata for Piano and Cello in G minor, Op. 65), the work is considered to be one of the greatest piano sonatas of the literature. The third movement of the Piano Sonata No. 2 is Chopin's famous funeral march (French: Marche funèbre; Polish: Marsz żałobny) which was composed at least two years before the remainder of the work and has remained, by itself, one of Chopin's most popular compositions. The Piano Sonata No. 2 carries allusions and reminiscences of music by J. S. Bach and by Ludwig van Beethoven; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 also has a funeral march as its third movement. A typical performance of Chopin's second sonata lasts between 21 and 25 minutes, depending on whether the repetition of the first movement's exposition is observed. While the Piano Sonata No. 2 gained instant popularity with the public, critical reception was initially more doubtful. Robert Schumann, among other critics, argued that the work was structurally inferior and that Chopin "could not quite handle sonata form", a criticism that did not withstand time. The work has been recorded by numerous pianists and is regularly programmed in concerts and piano competitions. The Marche funèbre exists in countless arrangements and has been performed at funerals all over the world (including Chopin's own), having become an archetypal evocation of death. |
|
| Polka in A flat major, TN ii/18 | ||
| Polka italienne, for piano 4-Hands in E flat minor/E flat major, TN ii/21 | ||
| Prélude in F major, TN ii/15 | ||
| Romance in E flat major |
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 to 1906, and relocated to Dresden, Germany, in 1906. He later embarked upon his first tour of the United States as a concert 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 in 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. |
|
| Romance in G for Piano 4-Hands, TN ii/20 |
This is a list of songs that are featured in Andamiro's Pump It Up video game series. Pump It Up's in-house musician group BanYa was responsible for original songs in the series under dance pop, rock, heavy metal, jazz, folk, progressive and house genres, including EDM remixes of classical pieces such as Canon in D, Turkey March and Moonlight. In Fiesta, MAX, Doin and SHK (originally from O2Jam) joined as new in-house musicians. Since 1st Dance Floor, there are a large number of licensed K-pop songs. Starting with Pump It Up Premiere and onward, international songs are included mostly from North America, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, China, and elsewhere. In almost all versions, BanYa was also responsible for nonstop remixes that mix numerous K-pop and world music songs, especially original songs (examples are J Knows that Old Bong, World Remix, Turkey Virus, K-pop Dance, Chicago Club Mix, etc.), but they are available in Remix Station (Special Zone in NX) or WorldMax in NX2 and NXA (Quest World in Fiesta). Starting with Exceed 2, full songs are added only in separate stations. |
|
| Russian Rhapsody, for 2 pianos in E minor, TN ii/23 |
This is a list of songs that are featured in Andamiro's Pump It Up video game series. Pump It Up's in-house musician group BanYa was responsible for original songs in the series under dance pop, rock, heavy metal, jazz, folk, progressive and house genres, including EDM remixes of classical pieces such as Canon in D, Turkey March and Moonlight. In Fiesta, MAX, Doin and SHK (originally from O2Jam) joined as new in-house musicians. Since 1st Dance Floor, there are a large number of licensed K-pop songs. Starting with Pump It Up Premiere and onward, international songs are included mostly from North America, Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, China, and elsewhere. In almost all versions, BanYa was also responsible for nonstop remixes that mix numerous K-pop and world music songs, especially original songs (examples are J Knows that Old Bong, World Remix, Turkey Virus, K-pop Dance, Chicago Club Mix, etc.), but they are available in Remix Station (Special Zone in NX) or WorldMax in NX2 and NXA (Quest World in Fiesta). Starting with Exceed 2, full songs are added only in separate stations. |
|
| Schubert: Wohin? from Die Schöne Müllerin, TN iii/10 | ||
| Smith: The Star-Spangled Banner, TN iii/11 | ||
| Song without words in D minor |
"Vocalise" is a song by Sergei Rachmaninoff, composed and published in 1915 as the last of his 14 Songs or 14 Romances, Op. 34. Written for high voice (soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment, it contains no words, but is sung using only one vowel of the singer's choosing (see also vocalise). It was dedicated to soprano singer Antonina Nezhdanova. It is performed in various instrumental arrangements more frequently than in the original vocal version. |
|
| Suite no. 1 for 2 pianos in G minor, op. 5, "Fantaisie-tableaux" |
Suite No. 1 in G minor (or Fantaisie-tableaux), Op. 5, is a suite for two pianos written by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The suite was a musical depiction of four poems written in the summer of 1893 at the Lysikof estate in Lebeden, Kharkov. The premiere took place in Moscow, on November 30, 1893, played by Rachmaninoff himself alongside Pavel Pabst. The work was dedicated to Tchaikovsky, who intended to attend the work's premiere, but died five weeks prior. Its four movements alongside their respective poems are as follows: Rachmaninoff composed a second suite for two pianos in 1901. The Suite No. 1 was arranged for orchestra by Rebekah Harkness. A 1968 recording by Jorge Mester and the London Philharmonic Orchestra was released in 1994 on Citadel Records. |
|
| Suite no. 2 for 2 Pianos, op. 17 |
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between June 1900 and April 1901. The piece established his fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces. After the failure of the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Op. 13) in March 1897, Rachmaninoff continued to compose some short pieces for piano, song and choral work while appearing in a number of concerts as an opera conductor. Just as he was finally beginning to recover from his ordeal, in January 1900, he had the opportunity to meet with the great Lev Tolstoy. However, he once again lost confidence after receiving harsh criticism for his original song "Fate" (Op. 21-1). After an unsuccessful meeting with Tolstoy meant to revoke his writer's block, relatives decided to introduce Rachmaninoff to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl. Between January and April 1900, Rachmaninoff underwent hypnotherapy and supportive therapy sessions with Dahl on a daily basis for over 3 months, specifically structured to improve his sleep patterns, mood, and appetite and reignite his desire to compose. That summer, Rachmaninoff felt that "new musical ideas began to stir" and successfully resumed composition. In July 1900, Rachmaninoff finally composed the "Love Duet," a key scene in the opera Francesca da Rimini, which was to be completed in 1906. This song was written earlier than his Piano Concerto No.2, which he began composing in the autumn of 1900, and the "Love Duet" became an important work that marked Rachmaninoff's rebirth as a composer. He first worked on the second and third movements of the concerto, with the first movement causing him difficulties. Both movements of the unfinished concerto were first performed with him as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting on 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1900. The first movement was finished in 1901, and the complete work had an astoundingly successful premiere on 9 November [O.S. 27 October] 1901, again with the same duo. Gutheil published the concerto the same year. Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to Dahl for successfully treating him by restoring his health and confidence in composition. |
|
| Tchaikovsky: Lullaby, op. 16, no. 1 |
This is a complete list of compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943). Rachmaninoff's compositions cover a variety of musical forms and genres. Born in Novgorod, Russia in 1873, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Nikolai Zverev, Alexander Siloti, Sergei Taneyev and Anton Arensky, and while there, composed some of his most famous works, including the first piano concerto (Op. 1) and the Prelude in C♯ minor (Op. 3, No. 2). Although spread over three different opuses, he did go on to complete an important set of 24 preludes in all the major and minor keys. His Symphony No. 1 (Op. 13) was one of his first compositions as a "Free Artist" after graduation, and subsequently his first critical failure. The derision he received sent him into depression. After undergoing autosuggestive therapy, he regained his confidence and composed his second piano concerto (Op. 18), which is widely considered as one of the best piano concertos. In 1909, he made his first concert tour of the United States, and composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 (Op. 30), notable for its structural ingenuity and technical difficulty. After this, due to emigration from Russia in 1917 and his busy concert career, his output as a composer greatly decreased, and during this period, he completed only six compositions. His last major work, Symphonic Dances (Op. 45), was completed in the USA in 1940. |
|
| Three Nocturnes |
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 to 1906, and relocated to Dresden, Germany, in 1906. He later embarked upon his first tour of the United States as a concert 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 in 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. |
|
| Variations on a Theme by Corelli, op. 42 |
Variations on a Theme of Corelli (Russian: Вариации на тему А. Корелли, Variatsii na temu A. Korelli), Op. 42, is a set of variations for solo piano, written in 1931 by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. He composed the variations at his holiday home in Switzerland. The theme is La Folia, which was not in fact composed by Arcangelo Corelli, but was used by him in 1700 as the basis for 23 variations in his Sonata for violin and continuo (violone or harpsichord) in D minor, Op. 5, No. 12. La Folia was popular as a basis for variations in Baroque music. Franz Liszt used the same theme in his Rhapsodie espagnole S. 254 (1863). Rachmaninoff dedicated the work to his friend the violinist Fritz Kreisler. He wrote to another friend, the composer Nikolai Medtner, on 21 December 1931: I've played the Variations about fifteen times, but of these fifteen performances only one was good. The others were sloppy. I can't play my own compositions! And it's so boring! Not once have I played these all in continuity. I was guided by the coughing of the audience. Whenever the coughing would increase, I would skip the next variation. Whenever there was no coughing, I would play them in proper order. In one concert, I don't remember where - some small town - the coughing was so violent that I played only ten variations (out of 20). My best record was set in New York, where I played 18 variations. However, I hope that you will play all of them, and won't "cough". Rachmaninoff recorded many of his own works, but this piece wasn't one of them. |