Rachmaninoff, Sergey

Rachmaninoff, Sergey (Vassilyevich)

(born April 1, 1873, Oneg, near Semyonovo, Russia—died March 28, 1943, Beverly Hills, Calif., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. composer and pianist. He studied at the St. Petersburg and Moscow conservatories. After playing his first concerto for his graduation as a piano student (1891), he stayed on to earn a composition degree, writing his first opera, Aleko (1892). His first symphony (1897) was such a disaster that he could not compose for three years. Known for his titanic virtuosity as a pianist, he toured widely while returning to composing prolifically. He moved to the U.S. after the 1917 revolution. His works, most of them in a lush late-Romantic style, include three symphonies, four piano concertos, the tone poem From the Isle of the Dead (1909), and Symphonic Dances (1940).