Rachmaninov

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov (also spelled Rachmaninoff) (01 April [Julian Calendar: 20 March] 1873 – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer and pianist who emigrated after the Communist revolution of 1917 to the United States, and became one of the highest paid concert stars of his time, and one of the most influential pianists of the 20th century. Rachmaninov 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 personal style notable for its song-like melodicism, expressiveness and his use of rich orchestral colors. The piano is featured prominently in Rachmaninoff's compositional output, and through his own skills as a performer he explored the expressive possibilities of the instrument.

Links To Peel
Rachmaninov's the Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, was played to the Pig by Peel at the time of Florence's birth, when the pregnancy had made her extremely ill. Peel explained about the birth on Desert Island Discs, where he chose the record:


 * "Well, when my daughter Florence was born about 8 years ago Sheila, my wife, was very ill and it turned out subsequently that we both feared for her safety really, she thought she was going to die and I rather suspected that she might as well, she lost a lot of weight and as I say was very ill indeed, and I had to sleep in another part of the house because she made so much noise when she was trying to sleep, and it sounds selfish but it was something that we agreed on as it was the only way that I could get any sleep, and she came to me about 4 o'clock one morning and said that she thought that the baby was about to be born and she climbed up onto the ledge above where I'd been sleeping in the room where I play my records and lay down and I went and made her a cup of tea and put on Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto and when it had finished we both drove off to the hospital, both of us thinking separately that she was going to be very ill, possibly die. In the event she was perfectly alright, and Florence was born, a most healthy and pugnacious child, and so Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto means an immense amount to both of us still."

'Moderato' from The Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor track did get played by Peel a few times on his show, however there was no evidence of other Rachmaninov tracks being played.

Shows Played
1994 2003 Others
 * 29 April 1994: 'Moderato' from the 2nd Piano Concerto (for Flossie)
 * 30 April 2003: 'Moderato' from Piano Concerto No.2' (Polydor International)
 * Desert Island Discs: 'Moderato' from the 2nd Piano Concerto
 * Record Boxes: Desert Island Discs: 'Moderato' from the 2nd Piano Concerto

See Others

 * Classical