Sergei was born in Sontsovka, Ukraine as an only child. His mother was a pianist and his father a relatively wealthy agricultural engineer. Sergei displayed unusual musical abilities at an early age and in 1902, when he started taking private lessons composition, he had already produced a number of pieces. As soon as he had the necessary theoretical tools he quickly started experimenting, laying the base for his own musical style.
After a while the isolation in Sonsovka started to feel restricting to Sergei's further musical development. Although his parents weren't too keen on forcing their son into a musical carreer at such an early point, in 1904 he moved to Saint Petersburg and applied to the academy of music. He passed the introductory tests and could start his composition studies the same year, being several years younger than most of his classmates. He was also viewed as eccentric and arrogant, and he often expressed dissatisfaction with much of the education which he found boring. During this period he studied under, among others, [Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]?. He also became friends with [Boris Asafiev]? and [Nikolai Myaskovsky]?.
In the Saint Petersburg music scene, Sergei would gradually get a reputation as an enfant terrible, frequently getting praise for his original compositions which he would perform himself on the piano. 1909 he graduated from his class in composition, getting less than impressive marks. He continued at the academy, but instead concentrating on playing the piano and conducting. His piano lessons went far from smoothly, but the composing class became important. His teacher encouraged his musical experimenting and his works from this period display more intensity and atmosphere.
(to be continued...)
![[Home]](wikipedia.png)