"Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" is the theme of No. 24 of "Violin Caprice" by the Russian pianist and composer Rachmaninov in 1934, based on the legendary Italian violinist Paganini. A piece for piano and orchestra composed with emotion.

The 18th variation is the most unforgettable thing about the whole work, not the dazzling technique, but the extremely moving, beautiful and lyrical melody.

Sergey Vasilyevich Rachmaninov was born on April 1, 1873, in the family of a wealthy landowner in the city of Onega, Russia. His family has a good musical environment, which gave him a good musical influence since childhood. He began to study piano at the age of 4 and entered the Petersburg Conservatory of Music at the age of 9. In 1885, he was introduced to Moscow and studied piano with the famous piano master Zverev. In 1889, he was admitted to the Moscow Conservatory of Music and began to receive more rigorous, formal and systematic education and training. He studied piano with the famous pianist Zilotti, and also studied composition with the famous composers Taneyev and Arensky. In 1891 and 1892, he graduated with honors in piano and composition classes respectively, and began his independent career as a musician.

Rachmaninoff was active in the international music scene as a pianist in his early days. He had profound attainments in piano performance. In his performance, he absorbed the strengths of his predecessors and created his own unique playing style, becoming one of the few outstanding pianists in the world at that time.

Rachmaninoff began to experiment with composition very early. In 1892, when he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory of Music, he composed his graduation work, the one-act opera "Aleko". Later, for the needs of holding concerts, he composed many piano pieces, as well as large-band works such as the symphonic fantasy "Cliff" and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Tsigan". In 1895, Rachmaninoff composed his First Symphony. This work premiered in Petersburg in 1897 under the baton of Glazunov, but failed. For this reason, Rachmaninov fell into extraordinary distress, and his creations began to decrease.

In 1897, Rachmaninoff was hired as the assistant conductor of the Mamontov Private Opera House in Moscow, and his career as a conductor began. In 1899, he traveled to Europe for the first time to perform and was warmly welcomed by people from all over Europe.

Due to his improved mood, he resumed music creation activities from 1900, and successively composed "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor", "Piano Prelude" and "Spring Cantata". Among them, the "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor", which is particularly eye-catching, has won widespread praise from the audience for its unique lyricism and poetry. To this day, this work has become one of Rachmaninoff's most successful representative works. His mental state was affected by the death of his best friend, and he went to the Black Sea for training. However, this experience was deeply imprinted in his mind, and his life's works could not escape the sound of death bells and black sounds. The majestic sea.

Rachmaninov's works of this period have a strong Russian national style, with sincere lyricism in tone, and are deeply influenced by Tchaikovsky.

In 1917, after the Russian Revolution began, Rachmaninoff went into exile in Switzerland. Later, he moved to the United States and served as the conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The most important work he wrote abroad is "Symphony No. 2 in E minor". With its profound thought, touching lyricism and outstanding Russian national music style, this work has won widespread world reputation and became a milestone in Rachmaninoff's creative career.

Rachmaninoff's creations are full of national characteristics, with smooth and beautiful melodies and sincere and moving emotions. Some works have a slightly melancholic mood. His later works show the characteristics of late romanticism, with more complicated techniques and more dark colors appearing in the music. This has a lot to do with his long-term living abroad and being far away from his motherland.

Rachmaninoff created many works throughout his life, including three symphonies, four piano concertos, a Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, three operas and the symphonic poems "Dead Island" and "Cliff" ", "Bohemian Caprice" and a large number of piano preludes, variations, etudes, etc. In addition, he also composed a large number of chamber music and art songs.