“I am a Russian composer, and my homeland has left an imprint on my character and my views,” Rachmaninov said. After the revolutionary events of 1917, the composer and his family were forced to leave Russia - as it turned out, forever. He spent more than a quarter of a century in a foreign land, mainly engaged in concert activities. “Having left Russia, I lost the desire to compose”, he wrote. “When I lost my homeland, I lost myself.” Only 8 years after leaving Russia, the great master was able to return to creativity.
The Fourth Piano Concerto (1926) and the Third Symphony (1936), which were included in the concert program, marked  the final and highest rise of Rachmaninov. They sound the sorrow of irreparable loss and painful longing for the homeland.