Benchwarmer's Music Studio

Some encouragement for this week!

We've completed our first Composer of the Month: Sergei Rachmaninoff. Below are the facts that students found:

Rachmaninoff moved from Russia to New York in 1918 - Cove

He was depressed for 4 years. Then after therapy he wrote one of his most famous pieces - Kieran

He had two siblings - Micayla

He could play extremely difficult music and had very large hands so that he could play chords with large stretches (13 keys!) - Theron

He was offered a job as a conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra twice and refused both times - Sabine

Both his mother and father were connected to the military and he was expected to become a soldier until his father lost all of their money. A relative recognized his talent and sent him to Moscow to learn to play piano - Sabine

He practiced 4 hours per day, 2 of which was mostly scales and arpeggios - Mrs. Weston

This piano doesn’t have any black keys. How will it sound? It’s a regular grand piano… but all the keys are white.

"To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable" - Ludwig van Beethoven (January's Composer of the Month)

Listening link for January's Composer of the Month: Beethoven: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX12YIlzNkccL

This Is Beethoven Playlist · Spotify · 87 items · 779.3K saves