Sergei Rachmaninoff

Rachmaninoff composed four piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini between 1891 and 1934. The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor and Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor are the most frequently performed and beloved.

Rachmaninoff fled Russia during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, eventually settling in the United States. He supported himself primarily through an exhausting career as a touring concert pianist, which limited the time he had for composition during his later decades.

After the disastrous 1897 premiere of his First Symphony, Rachmaninoff fell into a deep depression and was unable to compose for three years. After treatment with physician Nikolai Dahl, he recovered and wrote his Second Piano Concerto in 1901, dedicating it to Dr. Dahl.

Rachmaninoff was famously reported to have extremely large hands, with a span that could reach roughly a 12th on the piano keyboard. This physical advantage allowed him to write music with unusually wide stretches and dense chord voicings that challenge many pianists.