#Rachmaninoff_Concerto_No_2_Movement_1_Music_Therapy_Healing_Depression_As_Rachmaninoff_Healed_Enjoy

#Rachmaninoff_Concerto_No_2_First_Movement#
The piece established Rachmaninoff's fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces. He dedicated it to Dahl for his treatment from Depression.
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto is a record of an artist's survival. Deep in the stasis of depression, Rachmaninoff could see no way out. This concerto, dedicated to his therapist, was his companion as he took his first steps into the light.
Rachmaninoff suffered a psychological breakdown and depression that prevented composition for three years. He adopted a lifestyle of heavy drinking to forget about his problems.
At the end of 1898, Rachmaninoff was invited to perform in London in April 1899, where he was expected to play his Second Piano Concerto. However, he wrote to the London Philharmonic Society that he couldn't finish a second concerto due to illness. The society requested he play his First Piano Concerto, but he declined, dismissing it as a student piece. Instead, he offered to conduct one of his orchestral pieces, to which the society agreed, provided he also performed at the piano. He made a successful conducting debut, performing The Rock and playing piano pieces such as his popular Prelude in C-sharp minor.The society secretary, Francesco Berger invited him to return next year with a performance of the First Concerto. However, he promised to return with a newer and better one,although he did not perform it there until 1908.
For the rest of the summer and autumn of 1899, Rachmaninoff's unproductiveness worsened his depression. A friend of the Satins (relatives of Rachmaninoff), in an attempt to revoke the depressed composer's writer's block, suggested he visit Leo Tolstoy. However, his visit to the querulous author only increased his despondency, and he became so self-critical that he was rendered unable to compose.The Satins, anxious about his well-being, persuaded him to visit Nikolai Dahl, a neurologist who specialized in hypnosis, with whom they had a good experience. Desperate, he agreed without hesitation.From January to April 1900, he visited him daily free of charge. Dahl restored Rachmaninoff's health and his confidence to compose. Himself a musician, Dahl engaged in lengthy conversations surrounding music with Rachmaninoff, and would repeat a triptych formula while the composer was half-asleep: "You will begin to write your concerto ... You will work with great facility ... The concerto will be of an excellent quality".Even though the results were not readily evident, they were still successful.
By April 1901, while staying with Goldenweiser, he finished the first movement of the concerto.
Rachmaninoff received financial aid from Siloti to tide him over for the next three years, securing his ability to compose without worrying about rent.
Depression consumed him,and although he rarely composed, he still engaged in performance, accepting a conducting position by the Russian entrepreneur Savva Mamontov at the Moscow Private Russian Opera from 1897 to 1898.It provided income for the cash-strapped Rachmaninoff; he eventually left as it didn't allow time for other activities and due to the incompetence of the theater, which turned piano lessons into his main source of income.
After marrying his first cousin Natalia Satina, the newly-wed Rachmaninoff received an invitation to play his concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Vasily Safonov in December. Although the engagement guaranteed him a hefty fee, he was anxious that accepting it would show ingratitude towards Siloti.However, after seeking his help, Taneyev reassured Rachmaninoff that this did not offend Siloti.[59][60] That was followed by concerts in both Vienna and Prague the following spring in 1903 under the same engagement.[ In late 1904, Rachmaninoff won the Glinka Awards, cash prizes established in Belyayev's will, receiving 500 rubles for his concerto.Throughout his life, Rachmaninoff soloed the concerto a total of 143 times.
Rachmaninoff's debut with an American orchestra occurred on 8 November 1909, performing the concerto at the Philadelphia Academy of Music with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Max Fiedler's baton, including repeat performances in Baltimore and New York City.
No other concerto by Rachmaninoff was as popular with audiences and pianists alike as his Second Concerto;[80] the musicologist Glen Carruthers attributes this popularity with "memorable melodies [which] appear in each movement".
In both 2023 and 2024, the piece was voted number one in the Classic FM annual "Hall of Fame" poll, and has consistently ranked in the top three.
The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between June 1900 and April 1901. The piece established his fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces.