Musicology Annotation << Back About the «Guiding Idea» of First Piano Sonata Op. 28 by Sergey Rachmaninoff Merzlov Arseny N. The article defi nes the features of the artistic content of the First Piano Sonata, Op. 28, d-moll by S. Rachmaninoff. The similarities and differences of the composer’s interpretations of "Faust" by I. Goethe in the works of F. Liszt and S. Rachmaninoff are considered. On the basis of the analysis of the thematism of the First Sonata, a concept is put forward about the originality of the ideological content of the work, associated with its possible program. The intertextual connections of the musical material of the First Piano Sonata with the works of S. Rachmaninoff of different periods of composer’s creativity are denoted. Keywords: Sergey Rachmaninoff, Franz Liszt, “First Piano Sonata”, “Faust-Symphony’, creative dialogue, intertextuality. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.4.2021.1184 Pp. 03-11.