February 24 1891 (Julian calendar)

Satina indicated that this was a student concert ‘for the benefit of the needy students’. Threlfall and Norris listed a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Deus Meus also on this date with the composer conducting, as did Martyn (p. 532), yet this appears to be incorrect. Keldysh (p. 43), referencing a review in Moskovskiye Vedomosti, noted praise for Rachmaninoff's contribution as both pianist and composer, not as a conductor. Keldysh further noted the Andante from Rachmaninoff's First String Quartet, arranged for string orchestra, was performed, along with works by Konyus and Koreshchenko. Keldysh previously raised doubt (p. 39) about the performance of Deus Meus under Rachmaninoff's baton at this concert, and on the basis of the detailed review - which does not refer to any choral works - it is presumed that the work was not performed. (Val'kova (vol. 1, p. 90) cites a press notice in Moskovskiye Vedomosti on February 19 which refers to a different work for choir and orchestra, indicating that a choir was present, perhaps allowing confusion to arise.) Val'kova also notes that the Scherzo by Rachmaninoff was announced in the press, presumably an orchestration of the other movement from the First String Quartet. A transcript of the complete program, as it appears here, is included in Ya. Ravicher's 1959 biography of Safonov (p. 268), and it indicates the Scherzo was also scheduled for performance. Antipov, in Creative Archive S.V. Rachmaninoff: Index of Works (2013, p. 6), notes that the manuscript of the First String Quartet in the Russian National Museum of Music includes an addition of a double bass part for performance by string orchestra, presumably of both the Andante and Scherzo movements. LoC, Sergei Rachmaninoff Archive, ML31.R33, Papers of Sophie Satin, boxes 82-89.