“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: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 635616
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 676416
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 631133
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 680870
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 896060
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 241827
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1558711
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 410052
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 170817
for: Cello, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1051812
for: Orchestra and Piano
Score
Item no.: 361698
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 150214
Russian Piano Classics – Authentic Edition
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197620
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 201448
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 621811
arranged for double bass and piano
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 635954
for two pianos
for: 2 pianos
Ensemble score
Item no.: 683251
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
Item no.: 318550
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 224676
for: Piano
Item no.: 617081
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 135492
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 208806
Two copies needed for performance
Orchestral material from Breitkopf & Härtel
for: Piano, orchestra
Piano reduction (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 1558842
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 887764
for: Piano
Item no.: 404602
Thema aus dem 3. Satz
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 168554
Variation Nr. 18
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Book
Item no.: 193039
op. 34/14
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 741605
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 349923
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction
Item no.: 349903
Allowed reprint (1902, Gutheil, Moskau)
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1202287
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 318912
for: Piano 6 hands
Item no.: 421033
for: Piano
Item no.: 176986
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 375851
for: Bass trombone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1615168
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197743
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404224
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 619758
16 great Classics
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 620918
for: Voice [melody instrument], piano
Piano reduction, solo parts
Item no.: 1019432
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 893491
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 676420
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 888197
for two Clarinets in Bb and Piano
for: 2 clarinets, piano
Piano score, parts
Item no.: 685019
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197686
From the opera 'The Tale of Tsar Saltan'
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 209012
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160814