Composer of the Week: Rachmaninov: In America: Apple Pie?

Reluctant even to visit at first, and once there always more than a little homesick, proud Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff lived in the United States of America for 25 years, from the end of the First World War until his death in 1943. Rachmaninov was slow to embrace his adopted country, never really learning proper English - his correspondence was all translated into Russian - and always looking back longingly to mother Russia, a place now inaccessible to him. But he did come to love the United States and eventually, in the final year of his life, became a citizen. By then he'd become immersed in American cultural life, relishing jazz music and even admiring Mickey Mouse's take on his ubiquitous Prelude. Donald Macleod looks at his final years. Rachmaninov, arr Barnet: Prelude in C sharp minor. Charlie Barnet (saxophone), Charlie Barnet Rhythm Makers. Three Symphonic Dances, Op 45. Philadephia Orchestra, conductor Eugene Ormandy. The Muse, Op 34 No 1. Daniil Shtoda (tenor), Iain Burnside (piano). What Happiness, Op 34 No 12. Evelina Dobraceva (soprano), Iain Burnside (piano). Vocalise, Op 34 No 14. Ekaterina Siurina (soprano), Iain Burnside (piano). Lilacs. The composer (piano)