“Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music.” Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. He is considered the last romantic among the great Russian composers. Browse our sheet music and scores, and explore all his magnificent works today!
Unfortunately, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s childhood cannot be described as a particularly happy one. He was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, whose fortunes were soon dashed by his father’s decadent and debauched lifestyle, squandering all their money on mistresses and gambling. After his parents separated, the boy was sent to live with his grandmother, who recognised and nurtured his musical talents. At the age of nine, he joined the St. Petersburg Conservatoire. Despite his brilliant piano technique, and great musical talent, Rachmaninoff did not thrive at school, and was eventually sent off to Moscow, where he studied under the excellent teacher, Nikolai Zverev. It was in Moscow, that Rachmaninoff first began composing.
At the end of the 1890s, the young Rachmaninoff suffered two cruel turns of fate, both his close friend Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his teacher Nikolai Zverev died. His 1st Symphony premiered in 1897, and although it was conducted by Alexander Glazunov, the performance was so lacking, that Rachmaninoff couldn’t bear to listen to any more, got up, and left the auditorium well before the end of the piece. The work was mercilessly slammed by the critics, and Rachmaninoff suffered a nervous breakdown. In the following three years, Rachmaninoff struggled to even pick up his quill.
It was not until after 1901 that Rachmaninoff finally turned back to music. He began to work as a conductor in Moscow, and slowly began to travel and perform again, first through Europe, and then the United States as a pianist and conductor. Soon however, the political situation in Russia became so dire, that in 1917, Rachmaninoff and his entire family bade a sad farewell to their homeland, never to return. They emigrated first to Scandinavia, and then in 1918, to America. He spent the final years of his life in the US and Switzerland, where he found peace in his villa, where he would retire after exhausting concert tours.
Stylistically, Sergei Rachmaninoff belongs to neo-romanticists, although his ideas were very original. His works are richly nationalistic, and encapture the essence of the Russian folk tradition. Rachmaninov was inspired by the typically Russian, expressive, romantic motifs and melodies of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Today, it is still possible to find recordings of Rachmaninoff’s piano playing; one can sit back, and admire his remarkable interpretive and expressive skills, and one can gain an insight into the composer’s inner thoughts, as he masterfully navigates his own magnificent works.
for: SATB divisi
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 907979
op. 34 n° 14
arranged for cello and piano
for: Cello, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 6602
for: Orchestra and Piano
Study score
Item no.: 621808
for: Piano
Music score, CD
Item no.: 1541597
for: Klarinette und Klavier
Score, solo part
Item no.: 1199737
for: Fagott und Klavier
Score, solo part
Item no.: 1199731
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 674013
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 673306
for: Women's choir (SA), piano
Einzelstimme
Item no.: 366574
for: Oboe, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 673272
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197740
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 277886
for: Piano, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 198745
for: Piano
Item no.: 461713
for: 2 pianos
2 Performance scores
Item no.: 161410
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 892982
for: Voice (medium), piano
Music score
Item no.: 912030
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1690286
Klassik
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1551489
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 347117
CD
Item no.: 161405
for: Klarinettenensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 994385
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1344167
for: Oboe [flute], violin, cello, piano
Piano score, Solo parts
Item no.: 343786
for: KLAR (TRP) KLAV
Item no.: 269226
for: Piano
Music score, CD
Item no.: 850036
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 945438
for: 2 pianos
Item no.: 170816
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1689728
for: Brass ensemble (13 parts), timpani, latin percussion
Score, Parts
Item no.: 996792
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1000155
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1534107
for: Brass band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 882621
for: Flute, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302945
for: Bassoon, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302937
for: Treble recorder, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302933
for: Tenor saxophone, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302923
for: Tenor saxophone, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302922
for: Trumpet, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302919
for: Horn (E-flat), piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1302915
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1315317
for: Mixed choir, brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1298645
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1601390
for: Oboe, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1601368
for: Piccolo, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1636112
for: Cornet (E-flat), piano [organ]
Piano score, solo part, playback-CD
Item no.: 1636096