Welcome to my site of Rachmaninoff midi files! I have sequenced all these files myself (unless otherwise indicated). It is intended that this site will now include both midi sequences and other format files, of some of the less well known works, or arrangements of those works, of Rachmaninoff, for your enjoyment.

Listen to a Rachmaninoff midi or MP3 from this site by selecting from the menu below List of midi/MP3/wav files on this site -- Midi's -- Prelude Op 2 No 1 Oriental Dance Op 2 No 2 Elegie Op 3 No 1 Mélodie Op 3 No 3 (Original version) Mélodie Op 3 No 3 (Revised 1940) Polichinelle Op 3 No 4 Sérénade Op 3 No 5 (Original version) Sérénade Op 3 No 5 (Revised 1940) The Rock Op 7 Caprice Bohemien Op 12 Symphony No 1 Op 13 (1st movement) Symphony No 1 Op 13 (2nd movement) Symphony No 1 Op 13 (3rd movement) Symphony No 1 Op 13 (4th movement) Moment Musical Op 16 No 1 Moment Musical Op 16 No 2 Moment Musical Op 16 No 3 Moment Musical Op 16 No 4 Moment Musical Op 16 No 5 Moment Musical Op 16 No 6 2nd Suite Op 17 Cello Sonata Op 19 - 1st movement Cello Sonata Op 19 - 2nd movement Cello Sonata Op 19 - 3rd movement Cello Sonata Op 19 - 4th movement Cello Sonata Op 19 - 3rd movement (Volodos) Symphony No 2 Op 27 (1st movement) Symphony No 2 Op 27 (2nd movement) Symphony No 2 Op 27 (3rd movement) Symphony No 2 Op 27 (4th movement) Piano Sonata 1 Op 28 (1st movement) Piano Sonata 1 Op 28 (2nd movement) Piano Sonata 1 Op 28 (3rd movement) Isle of the Dead Op 29 Etude tableau Op 33 No 1 Etude tableau Op 33 No 2 Etude tableau Op 33 No 3 Etude tableau Op 33 No 5 Etude tableau Op 33 No 6 Etude tableau Op 33 No 7 Etude tableau Op 33 No 8 Etude tableau Op 33 No 9 The Bells Op 35 (Part 1) The Bells Op 35 (Part 2) The Bells Op 35 (Part 3) The Bells Op 35 (Part 4) Piano Sonata 2 Op 36 Etude tableau Op 39 No 1 Etude tableau Op 39 No 2 Etude tableau Op 39 No 3 Etude tableau Op 39 No 4 Etude tableau Op 39 No 5 Etude tableau Op 39 No 6 Etude tableau Op 39 No 7 Etude tableau Op 39 No 8 Etude tableau Op 39 No 9 Piano Concerto No 4 Op 40 - 2nd movement Three Russian Songs Op 41 No 1 Three Russian Songs Op 41 No 2 Three Russian Songs Op 41 No 3 Corelli variations Op 42 Symphony No 3 Op 44 (1st movement) Symphony No 3 Op 44 (2nd movement) Symphony No 3 Op 44 (3rd movement) Symphonic Dances Op 45 - No 1 Symphonic Dances Op 45 - No 2 Symphonic Dances Op 45 - No 3 4 Improvisations Flight of the Bumblebee Minuet from L'Arlesienne Daisies Elegiac Trio No 1 Floods of Spring (Wild) Fragments Gopak Liebesfreud Liebesleid Lilacs Melodiya (Volodos) Morceau de Fantasie (1899) Nocturne No 1 Nocturne No 2 Nocturne No 3 Oriental Sketch Polka de WR Polka Italian (Volodos) Romance (Siloti) Russian Rhapsody Scherzo - Midsummer Night's Dream Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 1 Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 2 Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 3 Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 4 Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 5 Vocalise What wealth of rapture -- MP3's-- Lullaby (Tchaikovsky) Powder and Paint The Star Spangled Banner Vocalise (Wild) Where Beauty Dwells (Wild) -- wav's-- Prelude Op 3 No 2 -- Others - Music minus one -- Piano Concerto No 2 Piano Concerto No 3 - 1st movement Piano Concerto No 3 - 2nd and 3rd movements Search this site - enter your text in the box below To visit Boosey & Hawkes music shop for Rachmaninoff's sheet music, click on the link below. Artist Song Name Composer Composition Instrument 2nd suite for two pianos Op.17 (Complete) (23:26) or listen to each movement individually:- I. Introduction (4:27) II. Valse (6:20) III. Romance (6:25) IV. Tarantelle (6:07) Click below to listen to the revised 1940 version of Rachmaninoff's Sérénade Op.3 No.5 Sérénade Op.3 No.5 (1940) (2:32) During his lifetime, Rachmaninoff made a number of transcriptions of other composers’ works. Below are three of them for piano solo, and the best thing about these midis, is that it is Rachmaninoff himself at the piano! The files derive from original recordings made by Rachmaninoff on Piano Paper Rolls. These rolls have been converted into Midi File format by Terry Smythe. Some small edits have been made to the original scans of the piano rolls, by Eric Halstead, to make the files sound best on the Yamaha Clavinova Piano. To see both classical and other midi files, including more created from piano rolls, visit Eric Halstead’s Music for Pianos website. Click on the links below to listen to these three exceptional pieces. Flight of the Bumblebee (Rachmaninoff/Rimsky-Korsakov) (1:03) Minuet from L'Arlesienne Suite no. 1 (Rachmaninoff/Bizet) (2:34) Liebesfreud (Rachmaninoff/Kriesler) (6:56) Here is my own sequencing of Rachmaninoff’s transcription of Kreisler’s Liebesleid (1921) Liebesleid (Rachmaninoff/Kriesler) (4:35) In 1933, Rachmaninoff transcribed the Scherzo from Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream, for solo piano. Below is a live recording of this piece by the South African pianist Petronel Malan. Scherzo from Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (4:21) Click below to listen to Rachmaninoff performing his transcription of 'Gopak' from Musorgsky's Sorochinsky Fair Gopak (1:45) Click below to listen to Rachmaninoff's 1st Piano Sonata Op.28 (1907) 1st Movement (11:32) 2nd Movement (8:35) 3rd Movement (12:43) Rachmaninoff composed his more popular 2nd Piano Sonata Op.36, in 1913, extensively revising it in 1931. Click below to listen to a live performance of the revised version by the Chinese pianist Chu-Fang Huang. Sonata No.2 Op.36 (1913, revised 1931) (21:14) Also in 1931, Rachmaninoff composed his Variations on a theme by Corelli (Sonata 12 based on the Folia) Op.42. Below is another live recording, this time by the Ukranian pianist Serhii Morozov. Variations on a theme by Corelli Op.42 (15:21) In 1911, Rachmaninoff composed the "Polka de W.R.", a piece based on a tune which Rachmaninoff had heard his father Vasily (Wasili) Rachmaninoff humming. Below is a live recording of the Polka, by the Belarus pianist Konstantin Krasnitsky. Polka de W.R. (4:10) In 1917, Rachmaninoff was to leave his beloved Russia, never to return. During that year, he composed a number of works. Click on the links below to listen to some of them. Oriental Sketch (1:35) Fragments (1:23) Also in 1917, Rachmaninoff composed his second set of Etudes-tableaux (picture studies) Op. 39. Click on the links below to listen to them. Where the theme behind an etude-tableau is known, it has been indicated. Etude-tableau in C minor Op.39 No.1 (2:56) Etude-tableau in A minor Op.39 No.2 (5:55) - "The Sea and Seagulls" Etude-tableau in F sharp minor Op.39 No.3 (2:25) Etude-tableau in B minor Op.39 No.4 (3:30) Etude-tableau in E flat minor Op.39 No.5 (3:46) Etude-tableau in A minor Op.39 No.6 (2:30) - "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" Etude-tableau in C minor Op.39 No.7 (5:40) - "A funeral march" Etude-tableau in D minor Op.39 No.8 (3:06) Etude-tableau in D major Op.39 No.9 (3:30) - "An oriental march" Rachmaninoff produced his first set of Etudes-tableaux, Op.33, in 1914. (No. 4 was withdrawn from Op. 33 by Rachmaninoff, and was subsequently published as Op. 39 No. 6.) Click on the links below to listen to them. Etude-tableau in F minor Op.33 No.1 (2:23) Etude-tableau in C major Op.33 No.2 (2:15) Etude-tableau in C minor Op.33 No.3 (3:35) Etude-tableau in D minor Op.33 No.5 (2:20) Etude-tableau in E flat minor Op.33 No.6 (1:27) Etude-tableau in E flat major Op.33 No.7 (1:31) - "A scene at a fair" (sequenced by Brandon Macey) Etude-tableau in G minor Op.33 No.8 (2:43) Etude-tableau in C sharp minor Op.33 No.9 (2:24) Here is an earlier work, the Morceau de Fantasie of 1899 Morceau de Fantasie in G minor (0:45) Rachmaninoff's three Nocturnes were his first compositions, written during 1887/1888. The last page of the manuscript for the 3rd Nocturne has been lost, so the piece is concluded with a return to it's 6-bar Andante introduction. Click below to listen to them. Nocturne No. 1 in F sharp minor (4:15) Nocturne No. 2 in F major (2:55) Nocturne No. 3 in C minor (3:55) In the last months of 1896, Rachmaninoff produced his six Moments Musicaux Op.16. These are sometimes considered as a set of preliminary studies for the greater Op.23 Preludes. Click on the links to listen to them. Moment Musical No 1 in B flat minor - Andantino (Op.16 No.1) (6:25) Moment Musical No 2 in E flat minor - Allegretto (Op.16 No.2) (2:24) Moment Musical No 3 in B minor - Andante cantabile (Op.16 No.3) (6:13) Moment Musical No 4 in E minor - Presto (Op.16 No.4) (2:32) Moment Musical No 5 in D flat major - Adagio sostenuto (Op.16 No.5) (3:56) Moment Musical No 6 in C major - Maestoso (Op.16 No.6) (4:22) Rachmaninoff transcribed two of his many songs, for solo piano. Click below to listen to the popular Lilacs (1913) and Daisies (1924). Lilacs (Op.21 No.5) (2:00) Daisies (Op.38 No.3) (1:52) Here is another piano transcription, this of his haunting Vocalise, or 'song without words'. Click below to listen. Vocalise (Op.34 No.14) (5:25) Rachmaninoff's cousin Alexander Siloti arranged another of Rachmaninoff's songs for piano solo. This is the Op.8 song "Like blossom dew-freshen'd to gladness" (1893). Click below to listen to this arrangement, entiltled "Romance". Romance (Op.8 No.2) (1:45) Many of the accompaniments to Rachmaninoff's songs demand as much from the pianist as do his Preludes. Indeed, a number of them can almost be treated as solo pieces in their own right. Click below to hear the accompaniment to his song "What wealth of rapture" Op.34 No.12 . What wealth of rapture (1:45) Rachmaninoff’s second symphony, completed in 1907, is one of the most romantic of all symphonies. The work is replete with those flowing melodies that are found in many of Rachmaninoff’s compositions from this period. In 1910, Vladimir Wilshaw arranged the symphony for piano duet, and this rarely either heard or performed version can be listened to by clicking on the links below. Symphony No. 2 in E minor (Op.27) - 1st Movement: Largo, Allegro moderato (23:12) Symphony No. 2 in E minor (Op.27) - 2nd Movement: Allegro molto (9:20) Symphony No. 2 in E minor (Op.27) - 3rd Movement: Adagio (12:28) Symphony No. 2 in E minor (Op.27) - 4th Movement: Allegro vivace (13:02) Let us now move on to the third symphony. This was finished in 1936. There are echoes of Rachmaninoff's earlier lyric spaciousness of style, but it needs to be listened to several times in order to understand all the complexities of the technical side of the composition. Here is a version of the 3rd Symphony for 4-hands, as transcribed by G Kirkora, for you to listen to. Symphony No. 3 in A minor (Op.44) - 1st Movement: Lento, Allegro moderato (14:03) Symphony No. 3 in A minor (Op.44) - 2nd Movement: Adagio ma non troppo (11:14) Symphony No. 3 in A minor (Op.44) - 3rd Movement: Allegro (11:10) And now to the first symphony,dating from 1895. The symphony's permière in 1897 proved to be the turning point in Rachmaninoff's career as a composer. The performance was a disaster. Rachmaninoff undertook hypnosis sessions with Dr Dahl in 1900, following which came his resurgence as a composer when he produced his finest works. The midi below is of the four-hand piano arrangement of the first symphony, made by Rachmaninoff in 1898. Symphony No. 1 in D minor (Op.13) - 1st Movement: Grave, Allegro ma non troppo (13:15) Symphony No. 1 in D minor (Op.13) - 2nd Movement: Allegro animato (9:19) Symphony No. 1 in D minor (Op.13) - 3rd Movement: Larghetto (9:17) Symphony No. 1 in D minor (Op.13) - 4th Movement: Allegro con fuoco (12:32) The Symphonic Dances, Opus 45, composed in 1940, is Rachmaninoff's last score. They were written initially for orchestra, but in the same year, Rachmaninoff produced an arrangement for 2 pianos, and it is this version you can listen to by clicking on the links below Symphonic Dances (Op.45) - No 1: Non allegro (11:18) Symphonic Dances (Op.45) - No 2: Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) (8:22) Symphonic Dances (Op.45) - No 3: Lento assai, Allegro vivace (13:12) In 1909,Rachmaninoff composed the symphonic poem for orchestra "The Isle of the Dead", based on a painting by Böcklin. An arrangement of this piece, for piano duet, was made in 1909 by Otto Taubmann. Click below to listen to this two-piano version. Isle of the Dead (Op.29) (20:10) To see a full sized version of Böcklin's "Isle of the Dead", click once on the image below, and click it twice to put it back to it's original size. Rachmaninoff's Op7 fantasy for orchestra,The Rock (or The Crag), was composed in 1893. During the same year, Rachmaninoff produced an arrangement for piano duet, which you can listen to by clicking on the link below. The Rock (Op.7) (14:15) The Russian Rhapsody, for 2 pianos, was composed in 1891 when Rachmaninoff was 17. Click on the link below to listen to this rarely heard piece. Russian Rhapsody (7:55) During the summer of 1894, Rachmaninoff wrote his "Capriccio on gypsy themes". This is a piece for orchestra alone, but before orchestrating it, he produced a version for 4 hands. Click on the link below to listen to the 2-piano version of the Caprice Bohemien, Op 12. Caprice Bohemien (Op.12) (19:45) In 1891, Rachmaninoff produced a four-hand version of Tchaikovsky's "The Sleeping Beauty" score. Click below to listen to the five individual movements. Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 1: Introduction. La fée des lilas (4:02) Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 2: Adagio. Pas d'action (5:21) Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 3: Pas de caractère (Le Chat botté et la Chatte blanche)(1:47) Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 4: Panorama (2:08) Sleeping Beauty Suite - No 5: Valse (5:38) Rachmaninoff composed 4 piano concertos. The 2nd and 3rd are the most popular. His 4th piano concerto, Op. 40, was completed in August 1926. Here is an interesting rendition of the slow movement, where Guilherme Schroeter has sequenced the orchestral part, whilst performing the piano part himself in real time! 4th piano concerto, 2nd movement (Largo) (7:21) - (sequenced by, and piano part played in real time by, Guilherme Schroeter) Here are some more works sequenced by Guilherme Schroeter - these are the 2nd and 3rd concertos, but minus the piano. See what you think. 2nd piano concerto - music minus one (39:04) 3rd piano concerto (1st movement) - music minus one (21:50) 3rd piano concerto (2nd & 3rd movements) - music minus one (31:11) I've decided now to include on this site, some recordings of Rachmaninoff's works, the music for which was never written down as such, although transcripts of these, in some form, are available . The first is a recording from 1926 of his transcription of the Russian folk song "Powder and Paint". Rachmaninoff is at the piano, with the mezzo-soprano Nadezhda Plevitskaya singing. Powder and paint (1926) The second is a recording of Rachmaninoff playing his transcription of Smith's "The Star Spangled Banner", the transcription made in 1918 The Star Spangled Banner (1918) In 1896, during evenings spent with his friend Taneyev, Rachmaninoff along with Taneyev and their two colleagues Arensky and Glazunov, produced a short group of 4 Improvisations, each of which had an input from each of the four composers. Click below to listen to these pieces. 4 Improvisations (1896) (4:41) I'm turning for a moment to other composers' and pianists' transcriptions of some of Rachmaninoffs works. The american pianist Earl Wild has transcribed 13 of Rachmaninoff's songs for piano solo. Below are various files for you to listen to, of some of them. Firstly, here is a midi file of Wild's transcription of the Op. 14 No. 11 song "Floods of Spring" Floods of Spring (Rachmaninoff/Wild) (3:11) Next is a live recording of "Where Beauty Dwells" a transcription of the Op.21 No.7 song, perfomed by pianist Jamie Shaak Where Beauty Dwells (Rachmaninoff/Wild) (3:27) Here is another live recording by a Japanese pianist, this time of the ever popular Vocalise (Op.34 No.14) as transcribed again by Wild. Vocalise (Rachmaninoff/Wild) (5:57) Next is a midi file of the transcription for piano solo of the 3rd movement of Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata by the Russian virtuoso pianist Arcadi Volodos. Cello Sonata (3rd movement) - reduction for piano solo (Rachmaninoff/Volodos) (4:55) Here is another midi of a Volodos transcription - this time of the beautiful song Melodiya Op.21 No.9 Melodiya - reduction for piano solo (Rachmaninoff/Volodos) (2:35) Here is a midi of Volodos' transcription of Rachmaninoff's 4-hand Italian Polka (1906) Polka Italian - reduction for piano solo (Rachmaninoff/Volodos) (2:48) Rachmaninoff composed his first Elegiac Trio, in G Minor, in 1892. The piece is scored for violin, 'cello and piano, and took just 3 days to write. Elegiac Trio No 1 for violin, 'cello and piano (1892) (13:39) The five Morceaux de Fantasie for piano, Opus 3, were also composed in 1892. Numbers 3 (Mélodie) and 5 (Sérénade) were revised by the composer in 1940. A midi of the modified Sérénade, recast in a more polyphonic style, has featured earlier on this site. Click on the links below to listen to the other pieces in this set which include No 1 (Elegie), once again performed by the composer himself as created from Ampico piano rolls by Terry Smythe, and the famous Prelude in C# minor, a recording with Rachmaninoff again at the piano. Morceau de Fantasie No 1 - Elegie (3:46) - live recording by Rachmaninoff Morceau de Fantasie No 2 - Prelude (3:49) - live recording by Rachmaninoff Morceau de Fantasie No 3 - Mélodie (4:35) (Original version) Morceau de Fantasie No 3 - Mélodie (4:16) (Revised 1940 version) Morceau de Fantasie No 4 - Polichinelle (3:06) Morceau de Fantasie No 5 - Sérénade (3:45) (Original vesion) The Three Russian Songs, Opus 41, date from 1926. They were originally composed for orchestra and chorus. Rachmaninoff subsequently made an arrangement for piano and voices, published the following year. I have produced midis of these below, the voices being represented by 'humming' sounds created by other orchestral instruments. Three Russian Songs Op 41 - No 1 - "Over the little river" (3:14) Three Russian Songs Op 41 - No 2 - "Oh, Vanka, you bold fellow" (4:41) Three Russian Songs Op 41 - No 3 - "Quickly, quickly, from my cheeks" (3:40) Rachmaninoff composed his choral work The Bells, Opus 35, in 1913. This is a setting of a text by Edgar Allen Poe and was written for orchestra, chorus and solo voices. It is understood to be Rachmaninoff's favourite composition. It depicts a journey marked by bells. There are four movements; silver sleighbells representing childhood, tender golden wedding bells, terrifying brazen alarm bells, and sombre iron funeral bells. Rachmaninoff's friend and fellow pianist Alexander Goldenweiser arranged the orchestral score for piano, and I have produced midi files of this arrangement. Once again, the choral parts are represented by other orchestral instruments. The Bells (Op 35) - I: Allegro ma non tanto - The Silver Sleigh Bells (6:04) The Bells (Op 35) - II: Lento - The Mellow Wedding Bells (10:17) The Bells (Op 35) - III: Presto - The Loud Alarm Bells (9:18) The Bells (Op 35) - IV: Lento lugubre - The Mournful Iron Bells (10:10) Here is another recording by Rachmaninoff himself. This is of his beautiful transcription (and incidentally, his final composition) from August 1941, of Tchaikovsky's Lullaby Op 16 No 1. Lullaby (Rachmaninoff/Tchaikovsky) (4:01) Rachmaninoff's beautiful Cello Sonata Op 19 dates from 1901. It is unfortunate that this piece is not performed more frequently at concerts. This is principally due to the technical difficulties of the piano part. It was once remarked "What a lovely piano sonata - and there's a 'cello in it too!". Click below to listen to a midi of this work. Cello Sonata (Op 19) - 1st movement: Lento, Allergo moderato (12:49) Cello Sonata (Op 19) - 2nd movement: Allergo scherzando (5:52) Cello Sonata (Op 19) - 3rd movement: Andante (5:17) Cello Sonata (Op 19) - 4th movement: Allegro mosso (9:46) Rachmaninoff also composed a few short pieces for 'cello and piano. Here are midis of his two pieces comprising Op 2, Prelude and Oriental Dance, composed in 1892. Prelude Op. 2 No. 1 (3:19) Oriental Dance Op. 2 No. 2 (4:12) I would appreciate any comments you may have on this site, and its content. Please sign the guestbook below. If there are any of Rachmaninoff's works which you would like to appear here in midi format, which are not available elsewhere, let me know and I'll see what I can do to produce them here. Mail your comments direct to , or put them in the guestbook. Read My Guestbook! | Sign My Guestbook! As I'm sure you are aware, most of these are electronically created recordings, and should not be seen as a substitute for the real thing. If you are new to Rachmaninoff's music, and would like to listen to an authentic performance, then you couldn't do better than purchasing Howard Shelley's recordings of the complete solo piano works. If you enjoy Rachmaninoff's music, then why not join The Rachmaninoff Society, where you can meet others with similar interests in this marvellous pianist and composer's life and works. Click here to go direct to The Rachmaninoff Society website. Click here to submit your site to the search engines for free! Powered by WebRing. Hit Counter Code