Composer, pianist, conductor – and gardener

On 1 April 1873, the Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was born in the Novgorod Governorate in the Russian Tsarist Empire; on 28 March 1943, he died in Beverly Hills in California, where he had settled in 1942. The artist also made a stop in Switzerland, namely near Lucerne in Hertenstein, a district of the municipality of Weggis on Lake Lucerne. Here he spent a few years, having been forced to leave his homeland forever in 1917, to devote himself to composing and tending his garden. His work, like that of many other Russian artists, belongs to European culture.

His life’s path is as unsteady as his work is multifaceted. Rachmaninoff’s career is marked by many changes of place, also caused by the course of history: from St. Petersburg to Moscow, from there via Dresden and Rome to Scandinavia and finally, towards the end of the First World War and during the October Revolution, into exile in the USA, where he lived – interrupted by regular stays in Switzerland – until the end of his life. His diverse compositional oeuvre can be placed between the post-Romantic symphonist Peter Tchaikovsky and the representatives of modernism Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.

All beginnings are difficult

Rachmaninoff spends his childhood in difficult family circumstances: his sister dies early, his parents separate. He fails the final exams at the Petersburg Conservatoire, but a member of the family manages to place him with a piano teacher and at the Moscow Conservatoire. Here he passes the exam, among other things with a one-act opera. But the way to success is not yet cleared. His first pieces for piano and orchestra follow, but they do not meet with a positive response, especially as Alexander Glasunov, composer and professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, severely criticises the first works and the young composer is rejected at a private concert in Leo Tolstoy’s house around the same time.

First successes

Thanks to the support of a psychiatrist, he regains his self-confidence. He takes courage for his further musical work and composes his 2^nd Piano Concerto op. 18 in C minor, which is still one of the best-known works of the late Romantic period and serves as a melody source for several well-known feature film scenes. His marriage to his cousin Natalia Akexandrovna Satina (such connections were not unusual at the time), whose support benefits him, the successful direction of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, the perfection of his piano playing, his activity as a conductor and, last but not least, the benevolent accompaniment of Peter Tchaikovsky lead him on the road to success. Visits to the musical cities of Dresden and Leipzig spur him on writing further works such as the 1^st Piano Sonata op. 28, inspired by Goethe’s “Faust”, and the symphonic poem “The Isle of the Dead” op. 29 after a painting by Arnold Böcklin.

Premiere as composer
and pianist in the USA

In 1909, Rachmaninoff composes the also very popular 3^rd Piano Concerto in D minor op. 30 – quasi as preparation for his tour of the USA; because of its immense degree of difficulty in the tradition of high Romanticism (Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin), it demands nothing less than constant top performance from the artist. Even the composer and piano virtuoso is confronted with an extraordinary challenge: During the crossing to the USA, he diligently practices with a mute keyboard in order to perform it in New York’s Carnegie Hall under the direction of Gustav Mahler – a great moment in music history! His concert tour is a great success; further tours in Europe and elsewhere follow.

Exile in the USA …

The First World War leads to Russia’s complete isolation from the rest of Europe. Inflation and the first reports of atrocities committed by the Bolsheviks against landowners cause the family great anxiety. They are driven from their country estate, which is looted and destroyed. In 1917, Rachmaninoff takes advantage of an offer to give a few concerts in Sweden and flees Russia with his family, unaware that this is for ever. In 1918, they settle for good in the USA, where the composer continues to concertise restlessly in order to build up a new existence. In time, he is able to support his fellow musicians back home with donations and food shipments.
  He stops composing in the United States because he lacks the inspiration of his Russian homeland. He never feels at home in the foreign country: he lives in seclusion, speaks only imperfect English, and his domestic servants are from Russia. During the Second World War, he provides financial aid to the Red Army. In 1942, Rachmaninoff buys a house in Beverly Hills and becomes a US citizen.

… and also in Switzerland

In order to get a little closer to his homeland again, Rachmaninoff buys a riverside plot in Hertenstein in 1930 and has a Bauhaus-style villa built; he gives it the name “Senar”, an acronym of “Sergei and Natalja Rachmaninoff”. He designs the park himself and lends a hand by planting trees and growing roses.
  For six years, he is granted the opportunity to spend his time here – and also to compose again: Thus, the 3^rd Symphony op. 44 and the Paganini Rhapsody op. 43 are written. On 11 August 1939, he plays his last concert in Lucerne under the direction of the Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet; the day after – three weeks before Hitler’s invasion of Poland – he leaves Europe forever; in 1943, he dies in the USA.

On Rachmaninoff’s musical oeuvre

Rachmaninoff composed works in many genres, including chamber music, operas, secular and sacred choral works and songs. His music bears late Romantic traits, which repeatedly brought him criticism: he clung to tradition by continuing to rely on catchy melodies and spectacular effects, which went down well with a wider audience. Not surprisingly, the criticism was particularly severe from representatives of the Schoenberg school, which worked with atonality, but it also came from Igor Stravinsky and Richard Strauss. His Piano Concertos No. 2 and No. 3, however, with their atonal, loud and extremely virtuosic passages, show that the composer had already pushed open the door to modernity.
  In the meantime, Rachmaninoff, with his distinctive, characteristic personal style, has a firm place in the repertoire of all orchestras, soloists and concert halls. In addition to the aforementioned piano concertos, the Paganini Rhapsody op. 43 and the Corelli Variations op. 42 are particularly popular. His symphonies are being played more and more often – and not only since the beginning of the anniversary year. There is still much to discover, such as his art songs, which are based on the Russian folk tradition. You can recognise the Russian soul in them. Every Russian, he explained, feels a strong connection to the native soil and continues: “Perhaps because of the need for solitude. Even after I left Russia, my music was inspired by it.”
  For the chief conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle Paavo Järvi and for Gianandrea Noseda, general music director of the Zurich Opera, who are performing a Rachmaninoff project in the current season, Rachmaninoff’s music sounds particularly Russian, “perhaps even more Russian than that of Tchaikovsky”, for example, in that it does not describe conditions but tells a story. The reader is invited to go in search of traces during the Rachmaninoff Year and beyond, and to listen carefully at concerts.  •

Sources:

Brachmann, Jan. “Denkmal von nationaler Bedeutung”, https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/rachmaninows-villa-in-der-schweiz-denkmal-von-nationaler-bedeutung-17616328.html

Brachmann, Jan. “Das ist Welterbe”, https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/rachmaninows-villa-senar-plaene-fuer-kulturzentrum-in-der-schweiz-18258974.html

Deutsche Welle: «Sergej Rachmaninoff – Klingt so die russische Seele?», https://www.dw.com/de/sergej-rachmaninow-klingt-so-die-russische-seele/a-65191775

Holz, Susanne. «Die Musik erobert sich Rachmaninoffs Villa Senar in Weggis neu», in: Luzerner Zeitung of 9 May 2023

Krellmann, Hanspeter. «Sergej Rachmaninoff Klavierkonzert c-Moll 1901 Moskau», in: Neunzig, Hans A. Meilensteine der Musik, Bd. II, Dortmund 1991, pp. 212–214

Ibid.. «Sergej Rachmaninoff, Rhapsodie über ein Thema von Pagagnini 1934 Baltimore», in: a.a.O. Bd. III, pp. 88–91

Lucerne, blog of the Lucerne Department of Education and Culture, “Sergej Rachmaninoff, Rhapsodie über ein Thema von Pagagnini 1934 Baltimore”, https://blog.bkd.lu.ch/villa-senar-kulturzentrum/

Lucerne, homepage of the city: «Rachmaninoffs Villa ist öffentlich zugänglich und kulturell belebt», https://www.lu.ch/verwaltung/BKD/bkd_dienststellen/bkd_hochschulbildung/villa_senar

«Gespräch zwischen Pavo Järvi und Gianandrea Noseda zum Rachmaninoff-Projekt von Tonhalle und Opernhaus», https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/paavo-jaervi-und-gianandrea-noseda-interview-mit-den-musikdirigenten-ld.1725047

Pedrini, Roberta. «Rachmaninoffs grüne Sommer in der Villa Senar» (Film), SRF 2 (television, «Sternstunde Musik»), 2023, https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/sternstunde-musik/video/rachmaninoffs-gruene-sommer-in-der-villa-senar?urn=urn:srf:video:db028989-44d4-4d1f-9369-2a48b6e68834

Saremba, Meinhard. Sergej Rachmaninoff: Ein russischer Weltbürger, Hamburg 2023 (Osburg Verlag)

Sergei Rachmaninoff Foundation, https://rachmaninoff.ch