Rachmaninov family: The ashes of the composer will remain in the USA

The family of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov, buried near New York, does not agree to transfer his ashes to Russia. This was reported by the Russian BBC Service with reference to the letter of Susan-Sofia Rachmaninova-Volkonskaya-Uonamik, the great-great-grandchildren of the composer.

As the letter says, Rachmaninov bequeathed to be buried near New York next to his wife and daughter. “We are not going to go against his will, because his remains will remain where they were buried,” the composer greater assured.

The head of the Ministry of Culture Vladimir Medinsky spoke on Saturday with the initiative to reburial the ashes of Rachmaninov in Russia. The official stated that "the composer dreamed of being buried in Russia," and the burial site should become the Onega estate in the Novgorod region, where Rachmaninov spent his childhood.

Rakhmaninov was born in 1873 - according to various sources, or in the Onega estate, or in the Semenovo estate, also located on the territory of the current Novgorod region. In 1917, immediately after the October Revolution, the composer went to Sweden, from there to Denmark, and in November 1918 he sailed to the United States from Norway. There he spent the remaining years, with the exception of 1933-1940, when he lived in Switzerland. He died in 1943 in Beverly Hills, California. He was buried in Valhalla near New York.