Composer and pianist, born in Nizhni Novgorod, Russia. He studied at St Petersburg and at Moscow, where he won the gold medal for composition. Having fled from the Russian Revolution, he settled in the USA (1918). He wrote operas, orchestral works, and songs, but is best known for his piano music, which includes four concertos, the popular Prelude in C Sharp Minor, and his last major work, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934) for piano and orchestra.