A Brief History of Rachmaninoff

[@studentoftheword6115]

My Family has a personal connection with Rachmaninoff. My Aunt Left in Russia in 1947 (she was born in 1917 in Russia) and married my Uncle and was a Russian Concert Pianist (level). (She taught Piano and the Russian & English Language in a Connecticut College) Rachmaninoff took a picture of himself with her 2 daughters. He then mailed it to His friend in Russia and then mailed it to my Aunt in Connecticut. When I was about 20 or so I walked though her living room and Halted and was astound when I saw the picture placed nicely on a small side table. I asked her were she got this picture!!! And then she told me. I was overwhelmed that she had an original and non-published picture of Rachmaninoff and Her two daughter sitting on a big Rock where they lived. Rachmaninoff has always been my favorite. And knowing that my family has some more of a personal connection still astounds me until this day.

[@DreamlessSleepwalker]

Do you have any evidence of that?

[@Maja-uq5uw]

Thats amazing!!! Rachmaninoff is my favourite too!

[@hongkijeremy5236]

Omg! Post it!!

[@hongkijeremy5236]

@Ric Ferr I am Confucius ex

[@pascalpoussin1209]

Rahman is an Arab name which means "gracious" or "merciful", do you know anything about? I know that there are Muslims living in Russia for many centuries.

[@sethmeyer2443]

I'm loving that cat chilling on the piano.

[@Phobos_Anomaly]

My personal favorite composer of all time. No one has ever moved me like him.

[@krismer6420]

The death of Tchaikovsky depressed me too

[@sexpen]

The official account of his death was that he died from cholera. But almost since the day of his passing there have been rumors that it was not accidental. It is alleged that Tchaikovsky was forced to commit suicide in order to avoid the scandal and disgrace of being unmasked as a homosexual.

[@krismer6420]

MΣƬΛ Personally, I doubt that he was forced to as an internationally recognized and respected celebrity, but instead that he decided to on his own, out of the sheer horror of his secret getting out. interesting insight!

[@saumiasinghal94662]

:.(

[@MiguelMartinez-xx2zy]

Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers! what a great video, thank you :)

[@ibuprofen303]

3:45 - sent him into a depressive funk, after which he studied the music of James Brown and Bootsy Collins.

[@terra5491]

Rahmaninov is one of my favourite composers (Bethoven is the second one) and I feel so sad that he had to leave Russia, missed it tremendously and couldn’t even be buried in the motherland. I hope one day it ll be possible and the genius will come back home. It’s interesting to listen to you thank you

[@Avery_Piano]

YES MY FAVORITE COMPOSER OF ALL TIME And Scriabin is pronounced " scree ah bin "

[@geraldromanow4576]

With the accent on the “AH”: Scree-AH-bin.

[@stefanbernhard2710]

Yes, her pronunciations seem intentionally off. "Shoe mun"

[@lydiagong]

I see ur lil kitty in the background! So cute!

[@roku401]

Great video, Rachmaninoff is among my favourite composers. A little tip for pronunciation (in a friendly manner): Скриябин - Scriabin - “Skree-ya-been” (as pronunciation) Рахманинов(ъ) - Rachmaninoff/Rachmaninov/Rakhmaninoff/Rakhmaninov - “Rakh-ma(i)n(h)-inov” (as pronunciation)

[@samyandkitty8399]

I agree she needs a more gutteral way to say the names. It’s annoying when you hear her repeatedly messing all the names up . Yes I’m dogmatic but imagine I do video about her and call her name nothing like her parents and friends speak it. She would be not happy. It is basic respect to learn people’s names correctly. My name Samanta people repeatedly call me Samatha or Samantha and make the hard t sound like th or ff it is so easy to read a name and go ask people from that culture “How do I pronounce Rachmaninov? “ you roll the R and if this is difficult then try saying that name with a small almost silent D , so Drdrdrachmaninov often in Russian V is pronounced like western bit the given spelling is westernised and so it ends OV not ob. Btw I absolutely hate my silly American name. My dad was ‘in love with a tv witch but chose to spell my name how people in his country did. Hence my dislike of foreign people mispronouncing or missspelling people from other countries names. If we are all grade 8 flutists or pianists surely we can talk coherently and pronounce people’s names ? It takes much less learning than learning The Flight of the Bumblebee, or a Chopin Etude ...

[@samyandkitty8399]

I’m not hoping to sound unfriendly either, I have aspergers and people say I’m dogmatic I disagree I just wish people would have enough respect to learn how other cultures pronounce their own names. I understand how lazy Americans are about learning multiple, no , not multiple but 1 extra language which if they do is Spanish or French mostly language is similar to music it opens so many doorways x

[@johnnyboy1232]

Concerto No.2... Best concerto!!!! :)

[@ColeThomerson.14]

Next you should do his easiest and hardest pieces by him! Great job by the way!

[@zahraouisami6165]

Hello Xiudgcsiug yes +

[@redmer_de_boer]

YESSSS

[@TheLifeisgood72]

Easiest, Prelude in C Sharp Minor/ Elegie No. 2. Hardest, Piano Concerto 3, Sonata no. 2

[@sergeirachmaninoff876]

Nice

[@TheBakingGirlShow]

Easiest???!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@henrydenner5448]

Allysia Thank you very much for this video on my favourite composer. I am awaiting the rest of the series with excitement. I absolutely love the way you tell stories and how you express the thoughts and ideas and facts in your narrative. I am always drawn into the discussion. I am a big fan of PianoTV and am really glad I found this channel. Keep up the stunning work.

[@ligorify]

He was also a good friend of Nikolai Medtner! One of the great lesser-known composers.

[@domodepiano]

mohamed youssef he also admired Medtner's skill and considered him at the time to be one of if not the greatest/ greater composers alive. Medtner aLong w Scriabin make up my top 2 favs for sure!😀

[@SCRIABINIST]

Medtner is based

[@TheTruthWSYF]

Wonderful video, your passion really comes through and makes it enjoyable. Thanks!

[@helenazhao5672]

Wonderful content thank you so much! Lovely cat with white shirt. You baby must be 6 years old now, growing up with music and cat, what a blessing 🤗

[@JanFelipe]

just discovered the channel today, it's really good! great content

[@vermouth310]

Your brief history is exciting. Thank you very much.

[@pompom7x728]

Merci Madame 🌺🎼🇫🇷🇨🇭🎹🎤

[@vermouth310]

You are absolutely wonderful in your expression of a great man.

[@mariofranco7416]

This is one of the best channels I have come upon! These videos are great. Thank you so much for the entertainment and information. It helps us celebrate the importance of these great people!

[@mr.thickey3959]

Whoever you are, “YOU’RE GORGEOUS”! But more importantly, RACHMANINOV (the spelling I like!!!)! Nothing in my life goes straight into my heart like great MELODY! Rachmaninov’s music almost makes me cry, primarily because of MELODY!!! Some great music might not have much if any “melody”, but the most wonderful of music DOES! Melody - some tune you can sing, whistle, or hum! That’s my definition!!! If I were forced at gunpoint to say who would be my MOST FAVORITE COMPOSER, Rachmaninov would flow off my lips! Delius, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Ravel, Debussy, & some others would come close. But “THE RACH” is always there! I’m 82 now, played piano for many years when I was a kid. But Rachmaninov swells my heart now more than ever! If I had one big personal wish from GOD before I pass on, it would be to play Rachmaninov, especially the “beastly & fantastically gorgeous Piano Concerto #3!!! “Power personified”! Dear GOD, thank YOU so much for making Rachmaninov a gigantic love on my life! And to think, there are so many people alive today who have no idea who Rachmaninov was! “Ach du lieber, mein schatz”!!!

[@FabioMartins-bo5ty]

Hello, I met the music from rachmaninoff through the movie "Shine". It was an extraordinary film. Of all the classical composers, he is the one who best expresses genius and emotion through music. The piano concertos are the best I've ever heard. His life only proves that all geniuses also have bouts of inspiration. For those who want to know the best of their music, listen to the 2 movement of the 2 piano and orchestra concerto. It's the sound of paradise.

[@nielskjr5432]

So, KZbin made a playlist for me with romantic music a week ago. In that playlist there was a piece of music by Rachmaninof. It was from a movie "Somewhere in time". I knew it from the Winter Olympics. A Russian pair was dancing to this piece in figure skating. It was Variation #18 from Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. Now I can't get it out my head. I hear it all the time on KZbin.

[@MarsLos10]

When you're a KZbinr and a mother at the same time 15:06 Very interesting video!

[@AlC92575]

His last recital was in Knoxville Tennessee. There is a statue of him there.

[@brunolimon1790]

Hey there, awesome video as always, just a heads-up on the pronunciation The letter 'Х' in Рахманинов (Rachmaninoff, х = ch) is somewhat similar to the english 'H' in hut (although not the same). Or even better, if you are familiar with german, it is very close to the 'CH' in doch or bach Cheers! :)

[@yashuabaryosef4413]

Also, the first letter Н РахмНинов (RachmaNinoff) is pronounced like "new" without the "oo" sound at the end.

[@dougstoltz9417]

. . . And Scriabin is pronounced scree-YAH-been, (not SCRY-a-bin).

[@leoinsf]

Wow!!! I really enjoyed every aspect of this documentary. I learned so much and you were able to capture the "spirit of Rach" so well, I feel I know him. Rach is my absolute favorite in every way and you gave me insight into this grand man who wrote some of the greatest music of the 20th century!

[@Kevtastic10]

Lovely! Please do Scriabin, he's such an underrated composer

[@JH109E]

Brilliant - concise and covers all the bases

[@lovelight1]

Thank you, that was brilliant. You should be a teacher as your delivery is warm and concise and easy to listen to. x

[@margaretflack2091]

Oh thankyou he’s my favourite, love his concerto no 2. I can cry in it. It’s so passionate. Loved to hear about him

[@dkl6397]

Thank you for your channel! 🤩💕 It helps so much in remembering the history of music. The knowledge always needs to be refreshed! 💪💚

[@sergeirachmaninov3393]

Thank you for teaching people about me.

[@kiaraeijo]

His symphonic works are pretty challenging! Learning his Symphonic Dances was fun but it was challenging (he writes difficult flute parts and I played piccolo for Symphonic Dances).

[@oldlahore1857]

Very lively commentary.

[@StevePhillips]

This is brilliant coverage, it is much more enjoyable you telling us about them rather than reading about them ourselves. I wanted to learn about all the composers but somehow started but well you know how it goes, my learning was like a failed symphony. Fancy Rachmaninoff Aunt sending him to see Leo Tolstoy to get inspired and cheer him up. Not the jolliest of giants.

[@tristan1042]

Cute cat in background ! :D 1:29

[@EderNovacki]

Awesome. I was waiting for this one :D Looking forward to the next vids

[@jonathanchavez9009]

While we’re on the topic of Russian composers, I’d love to see a History of Shostakovich video. His life seems unimaginably difficult from what I’ve read, but it’s always been very interesting to me

[@peterkohout7901]

God I love listening to you. I don't know how to thank you for your time and effort.

[@charleslaine]

Reaching a 13th? That's insane. My hands are huge, or at least that is what I thought, and I can barely reach an 11th.

[@ibuprofen303]

I often wonder whether that's an exaggeration. I have fairly big hands and can stretch a comfortable tenth. Maybe an eleventh might be more believable, although I suspect some basketball players might do a thirteenth.

[@vikli5966]

Just saying, this guy was a GIANT he was 6’6/2m tall so really, it would be likely.

[@monkeflip2510]

@@ibuprofen303 yes, for example Kawhi Leonard (6'6/2.01m) has some huge hands, about 30cm (same as Rachmaninoff)

[@monkeflip2510]

@@vikli5966 I'm 6'003/1.83m and reach a 12th

[@vikli5966]

Erik Satie I’m jealous 😭 I’m 1.59 and can barely reach an octave

[@ceciliaengland5494]

Very informative and well done! Thank you! Check Schoenberg pronunciation too.

[@XXmatt18XX]

Thanks for the history lesson!!

[@Surgicalshred]

Thank you for this interesting video!

[@mihawkdrakule3869]

Please make a video on sriabin

[@vZZenn]

Yes! Very overlooked composer who was fantastic and developed a very unique style.

[@rshauser7586]

Bravo. Enjoyed it.

[@seattlevkk]

Excellent overview, thanks for sharing

[@EazyP_Z]

It sounds like he was a deeply emotional person, gives great context to his music. Thank you for the video. I'm amazed at how critical these spam-bots or deeply unhappy people are in your comments section. Hope you are paying them no mind.

[@bombadeer8231]

Great job thanks 🙏 New sub here. Greetings from New Jersey USA 🇺🇸

[@larrycrenshaw9072]

Very educational, insightful, interesting and inspiring. This is added to my play list of your videos. Thank you mam : > )

[@shouqable]

I love Rachmaninoff's Italian Polka and you there is a recording on him playing it as well!

[@underzog]

As a big big fan or Rachmaninoff, I know he did that recording with his wife on a primitive disc cutting machine. The Prelude was requested everywhere, but in Russia he closed with the Itslian Polks instead.

[@georgealderson4424]

SVR died in 1943 just a few days shy of his 70th birthday not 1942. Just a slip of the lips early in the tape I think. Thank you for your ineteresting video. Blessings and peace Miss.

[@anton51737]

Hey PianoTV! I’d actually be really interested in seeing a video analysis of Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, as it is a very interesting piece with many shifts of mood. Curious to see your insight on it. :)

[@LoCoZappers]

Finally! And as you see, you have zero dislikes when you upload a video on Rachmaninoff...

[@nenitsa.m]

There are some misses in biography. First - Rachmaninov wasn’t saved by his mom and he wasn’t directly transferred to Moscow Conservatory. Rachmaninov’s uncle - Alexander Siloti - was a professor in Moscow Conservatory and he decided to help little Sergei to get into the right hands. He introduced him to Nikolai Zverev and Zvered took him to his big house where already were other boys he taught. And the teacher who didn’t like his pupils were trying to compose music - that’s all about Nikolai Zverev, and especially about Rachmaninov, because he first started to compose and because of that Sergei Rachmaninov and Zverev have quarreled. Zverev drove out him out of his house and only after that Rachmaninov got into Siloti’s class and became a student of Moscow Conservatory. Second - Nikolai Dahl wasn’t the exit from Rachmaninov’s depression. If you will read some books about Rachmaninov you’ll find that Dahl had a daughter and Rachmaninov was impressed by her beauty and her spiritual components. He wanted to go to Dahl not because Dahl was really helping him getting out of depression, he wanted it because he wanted to met his daughter again and again. And yes, of course Dahl’s sessions helped him a bit, but that wasn’t the main help. The answer always is love. Third - after getting married with his cousin, he didn’t teach no more in his life. He was doing money like a piano teacher only when he was a student.

[@BytomGirl]

Conductor of First symphony was known composer Glazunov who was not prepared and didn't have a score during premiere. Symphony was not performed again until 1945, after Rachmaninov's death.

[@leoinsf]

. . . and was drunk! God damned Glazunov cursed Rachmaninoff and almost ended his career as a musician.

[@BytomGirl]

@@leoinsf Yes, I forgot to add that little fact

[@alex_jpeg]

I really love him so much, the fact that he was very depressed and emotional just makes me feel such a connection with him not to mention how good looking and dreamy he was

[@bryanelum5552]

Thank you

[@jwilliams8210]

You did a really nice job. If you ever edit it, around time 09:26, I believe he died in 1943 not 1942.

[@patmajor4840]

Thank you. Excellent overview

[@cadencetennant3303]

Very helpful for my research project!

[@stevepowsinger733]

He could reach the 13th. I suppose that is the reach from the left hand to the right, making him a very long-armed person. Do they also rate how far you can reach with one hand, thumb to pinkie?

[@aerohydra3849]

Nope, that 13th is one hand reach, thumb to pinkie. His hands were really that big. Some people say he had a genetic disorder which was the reason for his tall height and his large hands (perhaps Marfans).

[@johnb6723]

@@aerohydra3849 Liszt also could reach a 13th or even a flat 14th.

[@aerohydra3849]

@@johnb6723 Liszt's hands were certainly relatively large as well, but I believe piano keys were narrower back in the day, so a 13th then might only be about a 10th or 11th on a modern piano. Chopin wrote 10ths when his hands were pretty small and could not really reach more than an octave on today's pianos most likely.

[@VikasThakur-ny7dw]

Please make a video on ''Thomas de hartmann''. He was a Russian composer and well known for songs like Fisher women, Song of Aisors etc.

[@estel5335]

So, how helpful is it, as a pianists, to have a wingspan of five octaves from one hand to the other?

[@lucasantoniotujan7783]

Easiest and hardest pieces please

[@pandore1602]

Lucas Tujan lol they’re all hard

[@TomCL-vb6xc]

Emma Woodhouse Almost all of his music is difficult to master/perfect. However not every last one of his pieces is technically challenging to any extreme extent .

[@brianbernstein3826]

if you've never played anything by him I'd recommend the third concerto, I actually performed the whole thing from memory on my fifth birthday for my parents, and I'd only been playing piano about two weeks. I find spending 20 minutes running through all the Beethoven sonatas and Bach fugues is a good warmup

[@lucasantoniotujan7783]

Brian Bernstein some 5 year old you were , Ive been playing for a year and a half and all I can do it Chopin etude op 10 no 3

[@brianbernstein3826]

..was kidding. it's not possible to "run through all the Beethoven sonatas and Bach fugues" in 20 minutes. the fugues would take 2-3 hours to run through once, the sonatas would take 11 hours

[@damnninja]

Всош 2023 по английскому 9 класс Спасибо за видео

[@robertoacevedo9140]

Now do one on Scriabin please. He Is extreamly cool and interesting.

[@danieltobias9742]

I feel like there's a LOT to unpack in your statement that Rachmaninoff is "detached" from the emotion of his music. It's deep subject that I'd like to analyze. As a Juilliard student (composition), I always felt that many students wrote music primarily to impress their professors rather than to reflect their true emotional experiences. But...the question I want to know is how does this "detachment" manifest itself compositionally. Anyway, thanks for your videos.

[@spartybob1]

Nice information

[@jonashasageremtkjrjensen]

Well done!

[@stefanbernhard2710]

Great analysis. 👍

[@terrytse1774]

I really like your characterization that his music observes emotion rather than actually being emotional.

[@Musicienne-DAB1995]

Excellent history, thanks!

[@maksimsaikin3721]

Your video was used in this year All Russian Olympiad on Municipal(city) level

[@mauritiusdunfagel9473]

You are a great source of information! I just love your series. It’s inspired.

[@nightmisterio]

9:22 I have a new version of it if...

[@hudsonsoul3259]

Excellent vid. Very informative.

[@J7o7s7e7p7h]

Your Cat So Cute!!! ^^ Haha

[@hotelinjapan389]

Robert Schumann. Please do Robert Schumann and great video!

[@johnnyboy1232]

Rachmaninoff!?!?!?!?! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

[@Avery_Piano]

John Mace YES

[@kontrabasso79]

very nice videos

[@Juan6Meses]

Thanks for the videos :3

[@alettahoikkaniemi7168]

Could you make a video on Jean Sibelius? That'd be really interesting!

[@7382932]

Yes!

[@MsMilionaire]

I'm practicing moments musicaux. Op. 16 no 4. Is it consider to be an relatative easy piece? Where can i find technique tips if any?

[@markteague8889]

His final public performance was, oddly enough, in the Alumni Gym on the University of Tennessee Campus in Knoxville. I must have walked by it hundreds of times on my way to engineering classes in the late 80s / early 90s before noticing the bronze plaque they had placed on the exterior wall to honor and commemorate him.

[@isayawhaat1634]

1:26 :o look at that cut CAAAAAAT🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

[@philipowen6730]

Thank you.

[@Bavubuka]

Please do a brief history of Erik Satie! Pweeety pweease.

[@harrynking777]

Very interesting summary. Perhaps more could have been said about the 2nd piano concerto and 2nd symphony because these are monumental works. I don't agree that his music is not as sentimental as Tchaikovsky'. I think it is incredibly sentimental.

[@mauritiusdunfagel9473]

I love that cat!

[@gegebenein.gaussprozess7539]

I liked your video very much. RakhmAninoff is of course the correct stress. If you want to have a score of 100, you should put the stress of his first name at the end: SergEy, not SErgey. Love, 😀

[@SteveHacker]

*Scriabin is pronounced, “Skree-AH-bin”! ... *Also, Rachmaninoff died in March 1943, NOT 1942! *Rachmaninoff’s reach was a 13th, not a 12th!

[@魚-c3d]

Bro really watched the video only to correct her about things she didn't even get wrong. -She stated Rachmaninoff's death as 1943, not 1942 as your comment implies. -the picture shown when talking about hand span presents Rachmaninoff's reach as a 13th -Skree-ah-bin, yes...except that Russian doesn't use the same vowel and consonant sounds as English. Pronouncing Skree-AH-bin with an American 'r' sound would STILL be pronouncing it wrong. But it probably made you feel better about your ego nvm

[@sethmeyer2443]

Scriabin was technically born in 1872 (on my birthday).

[@nikitosia]

Helpful brief

[@xman_hall]

Tolstoy actually hated the piece that Rachmaninoff played him. Furthering his depression. Recommend reading on that it’s super interesting

[@mingyan2988]

Cool cat on the piano

[@sweetfangs1979]

So if Sergei and Natalia were first cousins, their daughters were also second cousins?!? Or nieces?!? Sorry, this is an unnecessary question, but I'm just curious. XD

[@georgealderson4424]

Yes you are correct. They were sisters and second cousins.

[@InstaStoryFr]

I was loking to your eyes all the video 😂 Btw great video and thank uuu