Evening Masterwork: Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)

Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Evening Masterwork for November 26, 2019 – 7:00 PM on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9

For a big part of his career, Rachmaninoff was criticized for being a 20th-century composer still rooted in 19th-century style. But towards the end of his life, he began to integrate modernist rhythms into his works, inspired by composers like Stravinsky and Prokofiev. The Symphonic Dances, which he completed in 1940, is one of these pieces.