Thank you for sharing that. Rachmaninov is a favorite of mine. First introduction to his work in the movie Somewhere in Time. The soundtrack is absolutely gorgeous ( as was Christopher Reeve - wink 😍)
Rachmaninov found it vulgar. His own devotion to the country that took him in prompted him to write an arrangement in B-flat that is quieter and more contemplative. The chord combination he uses for "the free" is a revelation.
Rachmaninov avoided becoming an American citizen because he was certain that the Russian people would come to their senses and send the Bolsheviks packing. He was looking forward to a triumphal return to Mother Russia. Three weeks before his death from cancer in 1943, he came to understand that his dream would not come true in his lifetime. In his final act of giving the finger to Stalin, he became an American citizen.
He is buried just down the row from another Russian emigre, Ayn Rand, who joined him in 1977.