Born this date: Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of my very favorite musical voices in history. Last year was his 150th, and it seemed to me that we did not hear nearly enough about him back then. I wrote quite a lot on Rachmaninoff last year, but I still didn’t finish my project; the big long walk-through post of his Symphony No. 2 is still locked in my mind. But it’s coming. Someday.
Meanwhile, April should always include Rachmaninoff. Every month should include some Rachmaninoff, but particularly April. There’s something in the way Rachmaninoff exudes both optimistic hope and dark brooding, from one minute to the next, that seems particularly applicable to the reluctant Western New York springtime.
Here is the Second Concerto, because…the Second Concerto.
Vaguely related: when I listened to All By Myself by Eric Carmen after he died, I got surprisingly sad. And I had the same reaction when listening to the Rach 2nd Concerto, specifically the part that Carmen copped. I wasn’t even that much an Eric Carmen fan, so it surprised me.