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150 years ago this week, Sergei Rachmaninov was born: one of the finest pianists of his generation, touring the world in the 1920s and 30s as a musical megastar. Composing had been his real passion since childhood, and towards the end of his time in Russia before the Revolution, it was farming. Though St Petersburg and then Moscow was his base for much of his early life, it was Ivanovka – a country estate deep in the Russian countryside - that formed him. The house and the land surrounding it were a major source of his creative inspiration until his last visit in 1917. Donald Macleod explores how important Ivanovka was to Rachmaninov, and how he carried the precious memory of it with him when he left it behind for a life of exile.

Music Featured:

Lilacs op 21, No 5, ‘Siren’
Piano Concerto No. 1 (mvt 1)
Dances from Aleko
Cello Sonata in G minor (mvt 1)
Vesna
Symphony No 2 (Mvt 2)
Songs Op 34, No 12
Piano Concerto No 3 (Mvt 1)
All-Night Vigil (Excerpt)
Piano Concerto No 2 (Mvt 1)
Etudes-Tableaux Op 39, No 6
The Bells (Mvt 2)
Prelude Op 3, No 2
Three Russian Songs
Symphony No 3 (Mvt 2)
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Excerpt)
Isle of the Dead
Symphonic Dances (Mvt III)
Suite No 2 for Two Pianos (Mvt IV)
The Bells op.35 (Mvt IV)

Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Megan Jones

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 – 1943) /programmes/m001k8ck

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z