OTD in Music History: Russian virtuoso pianist and composer Nikolai Medtner (1879 - 1951) is born in Moscow.
A slightly younger contemporary of Alexander Scriabin (1871 - 1915) and Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943), like his more famous colleagues Medtner left behind a substantial body of original work – almost all of which is similarly focused on the piano. His output includes 14 piano sonatas, three violin sonatas, three piano concerti, two works for duo pianos, a piano quintet, many shorter piano pieces, and over 100 songs. He is perhaps best known today for his "Skazki" ("Fairy Tales") for piano solo, which is a set of 38 often-virtuosic character pieces.
Unlike his friend Rachmaninoff, however, Medtner did not leave Russia until after the 1917 Russian Revolution. (Scriabin had died in 1915.) When Medtner finally made the move, Rachmaninoff secured for him a concert tour of the United States and Canada in 1924; these recitals were all-Medtner evenings consisting of sonatas interspersed with songs and shorter pieces. Despite the critical and commercial success of that tour, however, Medtner disliked concertizing. Highly esteemed in England, he instead settled in London in 1936, started going by "Nicolas," and spent the rest of his life quietly teaching, practicing the piano, and composing.
PICTURED: A photo showing the elderly Medtner staring rather proudly into the camera, which he signed and dated in January 1940.
