Fiona Maddocks interviewed Gwenan Edwards

Observer classical music critic Fiona Maddocks discusses Rachmaninoff’s years in exile and the composition of his last great work Symphonic Dances.

Rachmaninoff left his Petrograd home in 1917 at the age of 44 having written almost all the music he is known for. The story of his years in exile in the United States and Switzerland has been little told. He reinvented himself as a pianist and wrote little music. Maddocks explains how Rachmaninoff clung to an old Russia that no longer existed and how the forging of past and present came together in Symphonic Dances, written in 1940 shortly before his death.

Maddocks was founder editor of BBC Music Magazine and has written for many publications including as chief arts feature writer for the London Evening Standard. Her other books include Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age, Harrison Birtwistle: Wild Tracks – A Conversation Diary with Fiona Maddocks and Music for Life. Here she talks to journalist and former BBC News presenter, Gwenan Edwards, whose credits include the BBC Proms, BBC World, BBC News Channel and Watchdog.