Rachmaninov 2
PROGRAMME NOTES
written by AURÉLIE WALSCHAERT
Sergei Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 (1907)
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20.03.2026 FLAGEY BRUSSELS
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) combined, for most of his life, a career as a composer with that of a pianist, thus carrying forward the tradition of the composer virtuoso. He commuted between the two big cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and his estate, Ivanovka, in the Russian countryside, where he wrote most of his works.
He was considered by many people as one of the last major Romantic composer and the most important successor to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). The work which most audiences are most familiar with is his Second Piano Concerto, but his Second Symphony, with its passionate melodies and rich orchestration, is one of the favourite works in the symphonic repertoire.
A promising future
Rachmaninov had the good fortune of being born in a prosperous and musical family: his paternal grandfather composed songs and salon music after his career as an officer, and his mother gave him his first piano lessons. Because of his father’s lavish lifestyle, very little of the extensive family property remained. His parents’ marriage did not last long, and so the young Rachmaninov and his brothers, sisters and mother moved into a small apartment in Saint Petersburg. As a teen, he entered the conservatory there, but he lacked the motivation to study. On the advice of a cousin, the pianist and conductor Alexander Siloti, he was sent to Moscow. There he studied with the renowned but strict piano professor, Nikolai Zverev. Zverev’s iron discipline worked wonders for Rachmaninov. Moreover, Zverev introduced him to the professional musical world in Moscow. Not much later, Rachmaninov was also admitted to the harmony class of Anton Arensky. It soon became clear that he was extraordinarily talented: in 1888, he graduated with the highest distinction in music theory, and in 1892 he passed his exam in piano and competition a year earlier than expected – a performance rewarded with a gold medal.
Right after graduation, Rachmaninov was considered a fully fledged composer, who also enjoyed the support of Tchaikovsky. He could already boast several impressive works. In addition to some songs and piano pieces, his graduation piece was the one-act opera Aleko, which was so successful that it was immediately performed in the Bolshoi Theatre. And lest one forget, his First Piano Concerto, to which Rachmaninov officially gave the title ‘Opus 1’
A paralyzing apathy took hold of me. I did absolutely nothing and found pleasure in nothing. I spent half my days lying on a couch. I had given up and was in utter despair.
From setback to triumph
For any composer, writing a first symphony is a symbolic milestone. For Rachmaninov, the pressure was even greater following the death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1893, as the public regarded him as Tchaikovsky’s natural successor. He laboured over his Symphony No. 1 for years, but its premiere in 1897 proved disastrous: the reportedly inebriated conductor Alexander Glazunov delivered a woeful performance, and the press dismissed the work as ‘an evocation of the seven plagues of Egypt’. Rachmaninov was left shattered. He sank into a deep depression and wrote not a single note for three years: ‘A paralyzing apathy took hold of me. I did absolutely nothing and found pleasure in nothing. I spent half my days lying on a couch. I had given up and was in utter despair.’
Seeking help, Rachmaninov turned to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl, who cured him of his compositional paralysis through hypnosis. In 1901, he ventured a Piano Concerto No. 2, and buoyed by its success, he began work on his Symphony No. 2 in October 1906. He had just moved with his family to the quiet cultural city of Dresden, seeking refuge from the looming revolution. Symphony No. 2 is a thoroughly Romantic work, in both form and character. Rachmaninov himself conducted the world premiere on 8 February 1908, and it was an unequivocal triumph: audiences and critics alike praised its lyrical melodies and their immediate appeal. That acclaim still resonates today – this monumental symphony remains one of Rachmaninov’s most frequently performed works.
