Rachmaninoff’s Final Work: Beauty at the Close

A close listening to the composer’s final work reveals how rhythm, melody, and color converge in a meditation on beauty and exile.

Sergei Rachmaninoff put his heart into his work, creating beautiful piano concertos. Public Domain

If you can reach the end of your life feeling the way the first of Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” feels, you’re going to be all right.

Go ahead—listen to this glorious statement of optimism and ecstasy. Preceding it with an analysis would be all wrong. I’ll still be here when you’re done. (Conducted by Yuri Temirkanov with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, listen to the first dance only; you can turn to the others another time.)