The moving story of Rachmaninoff's years in exile and the composition of his last great work, set against a cataclysmic backdrop of two world wars and personal tragedy.
In 1940, Sergei Rachmaninoff, living in exile in America, broke his creative silence and composed a swan song to his Russian homeland--his iconic "Symphonic Dances." What happened in those final haunted years and how did he come to write his farewell masterpiece?
Rachmaninoff left Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) in 1917 during the throes of the Russian Revolution. He was forty-four years old, at the peak of his powers as composer-conductor-performer, moving in elite Tsarist circles, as well as running the family estate, his refuge and solace. He had already written the music which, today, has made him one of the most popular composers of all time: the second and third Piano Concertos and two symphonies. The story of his years in exile in America and Switzerland has only been told in passing. Reeling from the trauma of a life in upheaval, he wrote almost no music and quickly had to reinvent himself as a feted virtuoso pianist, building up untold wealth and meeting the stars--from Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin to his Russian contemporaries and polar opposites, Prokofiev and Stravinsky.
Yet the melancholy of leaving his homeland never lifted. Using a wide range of sources, including important newly translated texts, Fiona Maddocks's immensely readable book conjures impressions of this enigmatic figure, his friends and the world he encountered. It explores his life as an emigre artist and how he clung to an Old Russia which no longer existed. That forging of past and present meets in his Symphonic Dances (1940), his last composition, written on Long Island shortly before his death in Beverly Hills, surrounded by a close-knit circle of exiles. Goodbye Russia is a moving and prismatic look at Rachmaninoff and his iconic final work.
Show moreThe moving story of Rachmaninoff's years in exile and the composition of his last great work, set against a cataclysmic backdrop of two world wars and personal tragedy.
In 1940, Sergei Rachmaninoff, living in exile in America, broke his creative silence and composed a swan song to his Russian homeland--his iconic "Symphonic Dances." What happened in those final haunted years and how did he come to write his farewell masterpiece?
Rachmaninoff left Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) in 1917 during the throes of the Russian Revolution. He was forty-four years old, at the peak of his powers as composer-conductor-performer, moving in elite Tsarist circles, as well as running the family estate, his refuge and solace. He had already written the music which, today, has made him one of the most popular composers of all time: the second and third Piano Concertos and two symphonies. The story of his years in exile in America and Switzerland has only been told in passing. Reeling from the trauma of a life in upheaval, he wrote almost no music and quickly had to reinvent himself as a feted virtuoso pianist, building up untold wealth and meeting the stars--from Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin to his Russian contemporaries and polar opposites, Prokofiev and Stravinsky.
Yet the melancholy of leaving his homeland never lifted. Using a wide range of sources, including important newly translated texts, Fiona Maddocks's immensely readable book conjures impressions of this enigmatic figure, his friends and the world he encountered. It explores his life as an emigre artist and how he clung to an Old Russia which no longer existed. That forging of past and present meets in his Symphonic Dances (1940), his last composition, written on Long Island shortly before his death in Beverly Hills, surrounded by a close-knit circle of exiles. Goodbye Russia is a moving and prismatic look at Rachmaninoff and his iconic final work.
Show moreFiona Maddocks is the classical music critic at the Observer. She was founding editor of BBC Music magazine and chief arts feature writer for the London Evening Standard, and has written for numerous other publications. She is the author of Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age; Harrison Birtwistle: Wild Tracks--A Conversation Diary with Fiona Maddocks; and Music for Life.
"This biography of Sergei Rachmaninoff focusses on the quarter
century that he spent in exile in the United States, after the
Russian Revolution, when he established himself across the West as
a highly sought-after concert pianist. Maddocks offers a character
study punctuated by colorful source material, but she also captures
his sense of otherness . . . and his yearning for a lost Russia
shadowed his monumental success."--The New Yorker
"An engaging account of resilience and regeneration, of fast cars
and slow cooking, of a man who struck roots wherever he went in
untouched corners of the human soul. Fiona Maddocks quietly
reframes Rachmaninoff's context as a man of the world--belonging
not to Russia or America but to civilization as a whole, basking in
its inventions and distractions, balancing life's joys and sorrows
in his ever-enduring concertos."--The Wall Street Journal
"An entertaining and humanising portrait of a shy, stiff, kindly
giant of a man who channelled his emotions into his music. Maddocks
has eschewed a cradle-to-grave approach. By presenting a series of
snapshots from different angles, she avoids the deadening
chronicling of the successive concert tours that were a feature of
Rachmaninoff's life . . . delightful."--Rupert Christiansen, The
Literary Review
"Fiona Maddocks draws on archival materials including newly
translated ones, as she paints a riveting portrait of the Russian
composer's struggles to adapt to a new life outside his beloved
homeland. A fan's affectionate ode to Rachmaninoff, Goodbye Russia
provides a spirited tour through the evolution of his music while
he was in exile, as well as a glimpse of the cultural history of
classical music in the early to mid-20th century in the U.S."
--BookPage
"In Maddocks's gentle recounting, Rachmaninoff--a livid presence in
absentia in Soviet Russia--was by 1940 celebrated but passe in the
United States. To this familiar overview, Maddocks adds a trove of
anecdotes and documents. The picture that emerges of Rachmaninoff
in exile is by no means insular."--The American Scholar
"A genial story, well told."--The Spectator
"Fiona Maddocks provides an extremely insightful and thoroughly
readable appraisal of the trials and tribulations that
[Rachmaninoff] faced during this problematic period Five stars
*****"--BBC Music Magazine
"Orbiting Rachmaninoff is a motley cast of characters, both
celebrated and unknown. It is one of the triumphs of the author's
meticulous research that she brings them to life with such
vitality, from the heights of Prokofiev's rivalrous ambition to the
loyal piano technician from the Bronx who followed "Rocky" from
performance to performance."--The Financial Times
"The man that emerges from Maddocks's account is reserved, if not
shy, surprisingly partial to fast cars and speedboats and consumed
with a longing for Russia."--David Mills, The Sunday Times
"Classical music critic Maddocks details in this captivating
biography the fascinating and traumatic life of Russian composer
and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff. Maddocks provides an up-close
portrait of an influential musician and the shifting cultural
climate in which his legacy was shaped. Classical music lovers will
be engrossed."--Publishers Weekly
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