Just four days shy of his 70th birthday, Sergei Rachmaninoff died of melanoma on 28 March 1943 in Beverly Hills, California. He always wished to be buried at his estate in Switzerland, but the ravages of WWII only allowed for

Sergei Rachmaninoff certainly knew a good tune when he heard it. But recognizing a good tune was simply not enough for him. He frequently took it apart and closely analyzed its contents before reassembling them in new forms and guises.