Nikolai Dahl

[1] He is most notable for his successful treatment of the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, who was suffering a creative block after the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony.

In January 1900 Dahl commenced a treatment program for Rachmaninoff which lasted daily for more than three months, using hypnotherapy and supportive therapy since psychotherapy as started by Freud had yet to be invented.

Dahl's treatment, helped by support from Rachmaninoff's own family and friends, cured the composer, who dedicated his Piano Concerto No.

The audience were informed that the dedicatee of the concerto, Dahl, was a member of the viola section of the orchestra, and they asked him to rise and take a bow.

Dahl and Rachmaninoff's relationship was dramatized in the 2015 Off-Broadway musical Preludes by Dave Malloy at Lincoln Center Theater.