[Publius]

In 1902, the 29 year old Sergei Rachmaninov married his first cousin, Natalia. The Russian Orthodox Church had a problem with this, and Sergei’s grandfather, a military man, had to intervene with the priests in the Russian Army to get a dispensation. Luckily, none of the children had genetic abnormalities, and Sergei lived long enough to spoil his granddaughters mercilessly.

In that year, Sergei published 12 songs which he had been working on for the past two years. Finding videos with English text wasn’t easy, but I found a few.

The first song is about fate, and not surprisingly, the piano accompaniment echoes Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. This is a window into the Russian soul.

Rachmaninov: “Fate”, Op. 21/1

Gorgeous tune!

”They Replied”, Op. 21/4

Very dreamy.

”Lilacs”, Op. 21/5

Religious and contemplative.

”Before the Icon”, Op. 21/10

[ConorMacNessa]

Hmmm . . . First cousin. That's dangerous! Of course, I had a crush on my first cousin once removed when I was in high school - at age 66, she's still a knockout. My Great-Aunt and Uncle didn't do ugly!



Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)