Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (; pronounced rahk-MAH-nin-off) was a famous Russian composer and pianist. He was born on April 1, 1873 (N.S.) and died on March 28, 1943. Because the Russian language uses a different alphabet his name is sometimes spelled in different ways in English (“Sergei” or “Sergey”, and “Rachmaninoff”, “Rachmaninov”, “Rakhmaninov” or “Rakhmaninoff”). "Sergei Rachmaninoff" is the way he spelled his own name when he was in the United States.