Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor

Like a Hollywood legend, so is told the story of Rachmaninov's piano Concerto No. 2: after his first symphony was a total failure, the composer turned to Dr. Nikolai Dahl, who used hypnosis in order to help him. The doctor moved his watch from side to side in front of Rachmaninov's face, and told the composer his next piece will be most successful. And indeed, this concerto, dedicated to the hypnotist physician, succeeded in the impossible, and gave the composer fame unknown in the 20th century in the field of concerto.

The concerto opens with eight dramatic chords, after which the first movement continues as a serious, melancholy rhapsody. Its Romantic nature begins here, and nostalgia to music of the previous centuries is manifested in every single note. But the most captivating movement is the second one, the quiet movement. This movement is filled with sadness and yearning for something unattainable. The frustrated composer used all his talent and all the sadness he knew at the time and channeled it into this melancholic movement. Many years later, in the 1970's, the second movement became the center of a very successful pop song called "All by Myself", by American singer Eric Carmen. The music suited the lyrics he wrote so nicely, that many pop lovers were exposed to this wondrous classical work, and through this - to classical music as a whole.