One of the legendary pianists of his day, Serge Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) has taken his place in music history as a composer of distinction — a commanding figure in late Russian Romanticism whose appealing works are known worldwide for their intense lyricism and dynamic vivacity.
This complete collection of Rachmaninoff's songs for voice and piano comprises all of the music Opp. 4, 8, 14, 21, 26, 34, and 38 — seventy-one songs in a variety of vocal ranges, containing some of the most hauntingly beautiful passages in the literature. The text underlay for most of the songs is in Russian (Cyrillic) and English; one is given with Russian, German, and French singing texts; and the complete Op. 38 (six songs) is published with singing texts in all four languages.
Bold in his broad choice of poems to set to music, Rachmaninoff chose the words of no less than 36 esteemed poets — from his fellow countrymen Chekhov, Pushkin, and Tolstoy to the international works of Goethe, Heine, Hugo, and Shelley. Here, the composer's lyrical gifts are matched and supported by his extraordinary sense of the keyboard as an equal partner in the making of an art song.