Sergei Rachmaninov
Sergei Rachmaninov was born in 1873 into an affluent Russian family. Unfortunately, his father lost all their wealth in business, which resulted in his parents' separation and Sergei moving to live with his aunt.
The first public performance of Rachmaninov’s first symphony A long composition for the orchestra, typically featuring four movements. was a disaster with audiences hating it. The reaction left him feeling depressed. After his treatment, he composed his second piano concertoA piece for an orchestra with a soloist, in three movements which was well received. Rachmaninov continued to compose a large amount of music for piano before he died in the USA in 1943.
Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor
Rachmaninov started to write the Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor at the very start of the 20th century 1901-2000. . The first performance was in Moscow with Rachmaninov as the soloistA person who performs music as a solo - alone. . The piece is dedicated to Monsieur N. Dahl, the doctor who treated Rachmaninov for his depression.
The first movement is written in C minor key signatureA pattern of sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece of music indicating which are to be played.. It opens with sustained chordA collection of usually three notes played together. on the piano.
The sustained chords are intended to sound like church bells. Rachmaninov added tenutoA note played for its full value or slightly longer., or accentNote played with a stronger attack. marks, to each of the chords.
The movement continues with the piano playing broken chordNotes of the chord played separately. to accompany a solo played by the clarinet in the orchestra. It is unusual to give such an important melody to an instrument of the orchestra rather than the soloist.
The piece has an extremely difficult piano part - at one point there is an intervalDistance between two notes. leap of a twelfth.