Rachmaninoff was born on April 1, 1873 in Russia. Although he was born on an estate, financial issues forced his family to move to an apartment in St. Petersburg when he was nine. His talents in music were quickly recognized, although in school, he often played hooky to go ice-skating or just wander around the city. His household was unfortunately quite chaotic, so his parents didn’t have the energy to look after him closely.

Between twelve and sixteen years old, he trained under a man named Nikolai Zverev. Well, he was practically adopted by that man—he lived in Zverev’s home with two other students. Zverev gave them free lessons and paid for their food, clothing, and even for tickets to musical performances for “cultural exposure”, under the condition that they always followed his directions. Zverev was as strict and hot-tempered as he was kind. His students all had to practice the piano for three hours a day, taking turns arising at 6 a.m. to do so; if they exhibited tiredness, or played just a minute less than he asked, Zverev would chastise them thoroughly or even hit them. On the other hand, much good came out of their training (other than musical improvement)—on Sundays, Zverev recieved various actors, lawyers, professors, or even musicians like Tchaikovsky, whom Rachmaninoff deeply admired, and the three students would perform for them. He joined the Moscow Conservatory at fifteen and was a top student. He trained under prominent Russian musicians such as Anton Arensky, whose lessons spurred him to compose. He also met Scriabin here.

His early works showed signs of great talent which Tchaikovsky himself praised. One was an opera, Aleko. When he was nineteen, Aleko premiered in the Bolshoi Theater, the grandest theater in all of Russia. Then he began to write his First Symphony, oftentimes even working on it for ten hours a day. It took nearly a year to compose. But when it premiered, due to a mix of poor writing and poor orchestration (the conductor, Alexander Glazunov, was possibly drunk), it was a disaster. Rachmaninoff himself couldn’t stand its nightmarish sound and ran off during the performance. Afterwards, the Symphony was flamed in the papers by César Cui, another prominent composer. Rachmaninoff ceased to compose for years, earning money through other means (such as giving music lessons, something he despised), and only again began to write after recieving hypnotherapy in 1900.

He moved to the U.S. in 1918, around the Russian Revolution, taking up residence in a New York apartment. He lived here for the rest of his life because he felt his homeland no longer existed—Soviet Russia had an environment simply too different from that of imperial times. Living in the States, his later music also underwent some influence from American jazz. He also had a villa in Switzerland, the “Villa Senar”, which he lived in during the summer. He continued performing and composing even when he began developing neuralgia because music was his life—he felt that where his music ended, his life did. In his final years, however, he moved to Beverly Hills, California, as the warm air would be better for his health.

(W.I.P.; when I have more time, I shall detail his trips to Europe and his family)