Music was an important part of the Rachmaninoff family tradition. His father and his grandfaher had both played the piano. Alexander Siloti, Rachmaninoff's cousin, was already an acomplished pianist and was becoming popular by the time Rachmaninoff was born. Sergei was six years of age when he had his first piano lesson from Anna Ornatsky. She was from the St. Petersburn Conservatory. Rachmaninoff seemed to have a natural ability at the piano. Anna recommended that he receive a scholarship at the St. Petersburn Conservatory in 1881.

He was but 9 years old when he began his formal lessons at the Conservatory. During the next few years he would skip his classes to play games and "train hop", which

In January of 1895, he began thinking of ideas for his first major orchestral work, his "First Symphony". It took him eight months to complete this undertaking. It was another year and a half before his symphony debuted in St. Petersburg, five days before Rachmaninoff's 24th birthday. The performance was a disaster , which left young Rachmaninoff devasted. He later went on to say of Glazunov, who conducted the premier, "I am amazed how such a highly talented man can conduct so badly". It was later believed that Glazunov conducted the dramatic work while piss drunk. Rachmaninoff lacked the confidence to compose anything after the shambles of the First Symphony, although the years following were not without musical activity. During this time he obtained a position conducting for a famous private theatre in Moscow. Still struggling with his ability to compose, he wrote only a few piano miniatures. After being introduced by a friend to Dr. Nikolai Dahl, it was speculated that Rachmaninoff was hypnotized in order to bring back his confidence, but it is more likely that he simply talked to Dahl on subjects like music and the arts. These conversations, along with encouragement from close friends, provided Sergei with assurance and a peace of mind, and he once again began to compose. He began by writing down ideas for his "Second Concerto" in 1900, and introduced it to the public in October of 1901. He composed most of his life's works during this time. Some of his more well known were the "Second Symphony", the "Third Concerto", "The Miserly Knight", and "Francesca Da Rimini". He made a name for himself in London, Leeds, and New York, and his career was at the peak of success as a co

Some common words found in the essay are:
St Petersburg, Nikolai Dahl, Petersburn Conservatory, October Revolution, Zverev Nikolai, Theme Paganini, Siloti Rachmaninoff, Listz Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto, Minor Prelude, rachmaninoff family, alexander siloti, sergei vasilyevich rachmaninoff, glazunov conducted, close friends, st petersburg, petersburn conservatory, st petersburn, tchaikovsky rachmaninoff, family estate, st petersburn conservatory, cousin alexander siloti, cousin alexander,
Approximate Word count = 1153
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)