Rachmaninoff was born on April 1, 1873, near Novgorod. Rachmaninoff studied with three Russian composers: Anton Arensky, Sergey Taneyev and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. After the unsuccessful premiere of the symphony no.1, Sergey Rachmaninoff quit composing for almost three years. In 1900 he compose the piano concerto no.2, a glorious return to composition. Today this concerto is one of the most popular piano concertos. Sergey leaves Russia in 1917 to settle in the United States. In the United States Rachmaninoff concentrated on his piano and conducting careers. In 1936 he compose the wonderful Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini. He died in Beverly Hills, California, on March 28, 1943.