Piano Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff : A Performer’s and Listener’s Guide

The first in-depth study of Rachmaninoff's piano music, uncovering its history, style and the influences behind the composer's enduring masterpieces.

The first in-depth study of Rachmaninoff''s piano music, uncovering its history, style and the influences behind the composer''s enduring masterpieces.


In recent decades, the piano music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) has rapidly gained international recognition and now rivals that of Beethoven and Chopin in popularity. Increasingly performed not only in concert halls and in international piano competitions, it also figures prominently in college and faculty exam syllabuses. The Piano Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff is the first in-depth survey dealing exclusively with his piano music. It investigates every known piano work by Rachmaninoff, with particular attention given to historical context, circumstances of composition, musical style and structure, the influence of other composers and extra-musical stimuli. Norris not only uncovers many unknown inter-connections between earlier, often unpublished works and later compositions, but also explores aspects concerning Rachmaninoff''s formation as a pianist and composer of piano music, including the possible influence of Marfan''s syndrome on the unusual size of Rachmaninoff''s hands and its notable impact on his pianistic style and content.

The book will be of interest to university courses on late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Russian music and will be essential reading for conservatoire teachers, students and professional pianists regarding interpretational aspects of Rachmaninoff''s piano music.