Swan

A tortured perfectionist whose art concealed volcanic emotion.

Rachmaninoff projected an outwardly reserved, almost mournful elegance — famously brooding and self-critical, he once fell into a years-long creative paralysis after poor reviews of his First Symphony. Beneath that serene, aristocratic exterior burned an intensely emotional, perfectionist soul whose sweeping romantic compositions revealed depths of passion and melancholy he rarely expressed in public. Like the swan, he was graceful and beautiful on the surface while furiously, fiercely driven underneath — a deeply artistic personality who held himself to an almost impossible standard.