Sergei Rachmaninoff is a well known Romantic Russian composer. I first fell in love with Rachmaninoff's music when I saw Ekaterina Gordeeva skate to his stunning piano work, "Elegie in E Flat Minor, Opus 3 no.1." In the newest movie version of the famous Tolstoy work, "Anna Karenina," the "Elegie" is the main theme song. After hearing this beautiful, haunting song, I began to listen to more and more of Rachmaninoff's music. Very soon, I began to buy cd after cd, even my favorite, "Rachmaninoff plays Rachmaninoff."
What makes Rachmaninoff so different than any other composer is the huge chords he inserts in his pieces as well as his huge jumps from one end of the piano to the other in two seconds flat. For him, of course, all this was no big deal, Rachmaninoff was 6 foot 6 inches tall!! But, for the rest of us, his works are *very* *very* difficult to play.
His concerto no. 3 in D Minor, is known to be the hardest concerto, having more notes per second than any other. Some masters of this concerto are Horowitz, Van Cliburn, and the new sensation from Russia, Evgany Kissin. This concerto has been made famous in the recent movie "Shine," (I recommend it to all!) and is topping the classical music charts. His most famous works, though, continue to be his beautiful Concerto #2 in C minor and his Prelude in C# minor
1887 Scherzo in D minor
1887 Nocturne No. 1 in F sharp minor
1887 Nocturne No. 2 in F major
1888 Nocturne No. 3 in C sharp minor
1888 Esmeralda (based on Hugo's 'Notre Dame de Paris') Act 1 introduction and fragments of Act 3 - Piano Score only
1888 Romance in F sharp minor
1888 Prelude in E flat minor
1888 Melodie in E major
1888 Gavotte in D major
1889 Piano Concerto in C minor - fragments only
1889 String Quartet - Two movements only
1890 At the gate of the holy abode (Lermontov)
1890 I shall tell you nothing
1890 Again You leapt, my heart
1890 Romance for flute, cello and piano
1890 Mazepa
1890 Romance for violin and piano
1890 Tchaikovsky Sleeping beauty (for four hands)
1890 Deus meus - motet for 6 voices
1890 6 Songs Opus 4
1890 Romance for cello and piano
1890 Waltz in A major, for six hands
1890 Manfred - symphonic poem (manuscript has been lost)
1891 Orchestral Suite (manuscript lost)
1891 Symphony in D minor - First movement only
1891 Boris Godunov - two monologues: "Thou, father patriarch" and "One Last Story"
1891 Arbenin's monologue from Maskarad (Lermontov)
1891 C'était en avril
1891 Twilight has fallen (A. K. Tolstoy)
1891 Prince Rostislav - Symphonic poem after A. K. Tolstoy
1891 Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor Opus 1
1891 Romance in A major, for six hands
1891 Russian Rhapsody in E minor, for two pianos
1891 Prelude in F major
1892 Prelude in F major, for cello and piano (revision of an earlier work)
1892 Morceaux de fantaisie Opus 3
1892 Capriccio on gypsy themes (Caprice bohémien) Opus 12
1892 Élégie in E flat minor
1892 Trio élégiaque for guitar, and pianoforte trio
1892 Prelude & Oriental Dance - Two pieces for cello and piano
Opus 2
1893 Romance and Hungarian Dance - Two pieces for violin and piano Opus 6
1893 Trio élégiaque for double bass, and pianoforte trio Opus 9
1893 Aleko (based on Pushkin's 'The Gypsies')
1893 Fantaisie-tableaux (Suite No. 2) for two pianos Opus 5
1893 Song of the disillusioned
1893 The flower has faded
1893 Do you remember the evening
1893 Romance in G major, for 4 hands
1893 6 Songs Opus 8
1893 O mother of God vigilantly praying, 3 voices
1894 Chorus of spirits for Don Juan, unaccompanied
1894 Morceaux de salon
Nocturne in A minor
Valse in A major
Barcarolle in G minor
Melodie in E minor
Humoresque in G major
Romance in F minor
Mazurka in D flat major Opus 10
1894 Six Duets
Barcarolle in G minor
Scherzo in D major
Russian Song in B minor
Valse in A major
Romance in C minor
Slava (Glory) in C major Opus 11
Six choruses for female or male children's voices
Be praised
Night
The pine
The waves slumbered
Slavery
Angel Opus 15
1895 Symphony no. 1 in D minor Opus 13
1896 12 Songs Opus 14
1896 Moments Musicaux Andantino in B sharp minor Allegretto in E sharp minor Andante cantabile in B minor Presto in E minor Adagio sostenuto in D flat major Maestoso in C major Opus 16
1896 Improvisations in collaboration with Arensky, Glazunov and Taneyev
1896 String Quartet - Two movements only
1897 Symphony - musical sketches only
1897 Glazunov Symphony No. 6 1895
1899 Were you hiccoughing (P. Vyazemsky)
1899 Night
1899 Morceau de fantaisie in G minor
1899 Fughetta in F major
1900 Suite No. 2 for 2 pianos Opus 17
1900 Francesca da Rimini (Prologues, Two scenes and an epilogues based on Dante's Inferno - Canto 5)Opus 25
1900 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Opus 18
1900 Panteley the healer (based on A. K. Tolstoy), unaccompanied
1901 Sonata for guitar, cello and piano Opus 19
1902 Spring (Vesna) and The verdant noise - cantata for chorus, orchestra and baritone Opus 20
1902 12 Songs Opus 21
1903 Variations on a Theme of Chopin Opus 22
1903 10 Preludes Opus 23
1903 The miserly knight (3 scenes based on the works of Pushkin)Opus 24
1906 Salammbô (7 scenes based on material by M. Slonov)
1906 Polka Italienne for four hands
1906 15 Songs Opus 26
1907 Sonata No. 1 in D minor Opus 28
1907 Monna Vanna (Act 1 and sketches for Act 2) - piano score only
1907 Symphony No. 2 in E minor Opus 27
1908 Letter to K. S. Stanislavsky
1909 The Isle of the Dead - Symphonic Poem based on a painting by Bocklin Opus 29
1909 Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor Opus 30
1909 Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor Opus 40 1910 Liturgy of St John Chrystostom, unaccompanied Opus 31
1910 13 Preludes
1911 Behr Lachtaubchen Op. 303 (Polka VR)
1911 Etudes-tableaux
No. 1 in F minor
No. 2 in C major
No. 3 in E flat minor
No. 4 in E flat major
No. 5 in G minor
No. 6 in C sharp minor Opus 33
1912 14 Songs Opus 34
1913 Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor Opus 36
1913 The bells (Kolokola) based on writings of Edgar Allan Poe - symphony for orchestra & chorus Opus 35
1915 All Night Vigil/Vespers/Vsenoshehnoye, unaccompanied Opus 37
1915 From the Gospel of St John
1916 6 Songs Opus 38 Opus 32
1917 Etudes-tableaux
No. 1 in C minor
No. 2 in A minor
No. 3 in F sharp minor
No. 4 in B minor
No. 5 in E flat minor
No. 6 in A minor,
No. 7 in C minor
No. 8 in D minor
No. 9 in D major Opus 39
1917 Oriental Sketch
1917 Piano Concerto No. 1 in F sharp minor (revised edition)
1917 Piece in D minor
1917 Fragments
1918 Smith The Star Spangled Banner
1919 Cadenza for Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
1922 Bizet L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1 - Minuet
1924 Moussorgsky Sorochintsy Fair: Hopak
1925 Schubert Wohin?
1925 Kreisler Liebesfreud
1926 Three Russian Songs (orchestra & chorus)
Across the River
Oh, Ivan
Whiten my rouged cheeks Opus 41
1926 Moussorgsky Sorochintsky Fair: Hopak (for piano and violin)
1931 Variations on a Theme of Corelli Opus 42
1931 Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumble Bee
1931 Kreisler Liebesleid
1933 Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream: Scherzo
1933 Bach Violin Partita in E major:
Gavotte
Gigue
Prelude
1934 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for orchestra and piano Opus 43
1936 Symphony No. 3 in A minor Opus 44
1938 Prelude in C sharp minor, arranged for two pianos
1940 Mélodie in E major
1940 Polichinelle in F sharp minor
1940 Serenade in B flat minor
1940 Rachmaninoff Daisies Op. 38 No. 3
1940 Rachmaninoff Lilacs Op. 21 No. 5
1940 Symphonic Dances Opus 45
1941 Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor (Revised) Opus 40
1941 Tchaikovsky Lullaby Op. 16 No. 1
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