The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18 – I. Moderato
Goodrich Chapel, 9:50 AM

Jeffrey  Fang,   '10 26
   Major: Biology
   Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, MI

Sponsor(s): David Abbott, James Ball
Support:  

Abstract: 
Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of the greatest pianists of his time and one of the latest composers to compose in the Romantic Period, was born in Semyonovo, Russia on April 1, 1873. In his early years, he showed great skill in composition, and as a student, wrote many pieces including his Piano Concerto no. 1, as well as the famous Prelude in C-sharp minor, which was written at the age of 19. However, such quick and frequent success only set him up to one of the biggest setbacks of his life.

In 1897, his Symphony No. 1 was premiered in St. Petersburg to hostile criticism. With the Symphony’s initial failure and problems in his personal life, Rachmaninoff fell into a deep depression and writer’s block, which lasted for several years. In 1900, Rachmaninoff began to see a hypnotherapist, Dr. Nikolai Dahl, who himself was an amateur musician. After a few sessions of hypnotherapy as well as pleasant and intelligent conversations about music, Rachmaninoff recovered quickly. Later that year, he began writing a new concerto: his second. Dedicated to Dr. Nikolai Dahl, the concerto was premiered in 1901 and was very well received, eventually becoming one of his most enduringly popular pieces.

Today I will be performing the first movement of this concerto with a piano accompaniment performed by Dr. David Abbott, and with the Albion College Symphony Orchestra during the 2009 - 2010 season.

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