Sergei Rachmaninoff

1 6.7

A Russian composer, pianist, and conductor famous for emotional piano music

proper noun
/sərˈɡeɪ rɑkˈmɑnɪnɔf/

: Sergei Rachmaninoff

The concert featured several works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, including his famous Piano Concerto No. 2.

Examples

Many musicians consider Sergei Rachmaninoff one of the greatest piano composers of the twentieth century.
As a pianist, Sergei Rachmaninoff was renowned for his exceptional technical skill and expressive playing.
I love the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Have you ever listened to Sergei Rachmaninoff?
Many musicians consider Sergei Rachmaninoff one of the greatest piano composers of the twentieth century.
As a pianist, Sergei Rachmaninoff was renowned for his exceptional technical skill and expressive playing.
The concert featured several works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, including his famous Piano Concerto No. 2.

Surface Forms

Sergei Rachmaninoff main

Morphology

Sergei + Rachmaninoff

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; the literal constituent tokens 'Sergei' and 'Rachmaninoff' do not compose to convey the meaning 'a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor.' Knowledge of the two name-parts alone does not allow a B1 learner to infer the biographical or occupational information, so the expression is idiomatically specific and non-compositional.

Etymology

Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian 'composer' and 'pianist' known for very big, emotional piano music that often needs large hands. Because his pieces use wide chords and long, singing melodies, his name now often makes people think of that rich, dramatic piano style.