Sergei Rachmaninoff. Memoirs of Contemporaries. He heard all the music through and through...

The book is a collection of testimonies from the relatives and friends, colleagues, and admirers of Rachmaninoff's music at various stages of the composer's life. It includes memories from those closest to Sergey Vasilievich and his family, as well as... memoirs from contemporaries that provide insight into the era and time in which the composer lived and created. When conceptualizing this project, we envisioned it as the second part of a 'duology,' which would include Oskar von Riesemann's book 'Sergei Rachmaninoff. Memoirs' and a collection of memoirs from many of the figures mentioned in these recollections. We have gathered these memories together in an order close to chronological, leaving out research and music-analytical articles from our book and preserving the belletristic, novella-like tone, just as in Riesemann's book, who was so immersed in the life and fate of Sergei Rachmaninoff that while reading, the boundary between the composer's speech and the author's sometimes disappears.