Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, is a concerto for piano and orchestra composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff between June 1900 and April 1901. The piece established his fame as a concerto composer and is one of his most enduringly popular pieces.

After the disastrous 1897 premiere of his First Symphony, Rachmaninoff suffered a psychological breakdown and depression that prevented composition for three years. In 1899, he was supposed to perform the Second Piano Concerto in London, which he had not composed yet, and instead made a successful conducting debut. The success led to an invitation to return next year with his First Piano Concerto; however, he promised to reappear with a newer and better one. After an unsuccessful meeting with Leo Tolstoy meant to revoke his writer's block, relatives decided to introduce Rachmaninoff to the neurologist Nikolai Dahl, whom he visited daily from January to April 1900. Rachmaninoff dedicated the concerto to Dahl for successfully treating him by restoring his health and confidence in composition.

From the summer to the autumn of 1900, he worked on the second and third movements of the concerto, with the first movement causing him difficulties. Both movements of the unfinished concerto were first performed with him as soloist and his cousin Alexander Siloti conducting on 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1900. The first movement was finished in 1901, and the complete work had an astoundingly successful premiere on 9 November [O.S. 27 October] 1901, again with the same duo. Gutheil published the concerto the same year.