Basic filters
Musical Instruments
Styles
Keyword
Musical Editions
Musical Education
Language
Difficulty Levels

Russian Composers of the Romantic Period

“Where the heart does not enter; there can be no music” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

What is hidden in the heart of Russian music? Pain and suffering, love and passion, a simple and vulnerable human soul, that never loses its pride and confidence. Browse our sheet music and scores, and explore for yourself the deepest reaches of the romantic Russian composers’ souls today.

Russian National School

As was very prevalent around Europe at the time, a strong national movement emerged in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. The defeat of the Napoleonic armies in 1812 united the Russian nation, and created a great opportunity for the development of music and culture. The Russian National School was born from the synthesis of Russian folk music, exotic imports, and European musical influences, and was renowned for its profound emotions and its new and progressive harmonic, melodic and rhythmic structures. Michail Iwanowitsch Glinka is deemed by many to be the founder of the Russian National School, and he was closely followed by Alexander Sergejewitsch Dargomyschski.

The Group of Five

“The Mighty Handful” or “The Group of Five” (also known as “The Novators” or “The New Russian School”) was an association of five prominent composers, whose aim was to create a specifically Russian style of music, and not to imitate older European models. The group was founded in 1856, and its comprised of Mili Balakirew, César Antonowitsch Cui, Alexander Borodin, Modest Petrovitsch Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The Might Handful taught many other great Russian composers, who also took up their style and supported their values, including the romantic composer Alexander Glazunov and the modernists Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky and Dmitri Shostakovich.

High & Late Romanticism

The most important Russian composer of the 19th century is without a doubt Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky’s music reflects his profound, melancholy inner world, while embracing Russian folk music, in all its authentic beauty. The Symphonies by Tchaikovsky count amongst some of the best orchestral works of the 19th century, as do his trio of Ballets Sleeping Beauty , Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, with which the composer raised the whole form to a new level.

“Music is no illusion, but rather a revelation. Its triumphant power lies in the fact that it reveals to us beauties we find in no other sphere; and the apprehension of them is not transitory, but a perpetual reconcilement to life.” Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The last of the late Romantic Russian composers are Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin. While Rachmaninoff generally remains true to the Russian musical legacy of the 19th century, there are many modern elements in Scriabin’s music, particularly in his use of harmony and instrumentation.

More Links for Russian Romantic Music

S. Rachmaninow: L'Orchestra fa scuola 1, Schulo
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Johannes Brahms, Edvard Grieg

L'Orchestra fa scuola 1

Trascrizioni e arrangiamenti per orchestre delle scuole medie a indirizzo musicale, licei musicali, scuole di musica

for: school orchestra

Music score

Item no.: 775715

13.80  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 2–4 weeks.
E. Elgar: 3 Autori Moderni, Org
Edward Elgar, Richard Strauss, Igor Strawinsky

3 Autori Moderni

for: Organ

Music score

Item no.: 775457

4.80  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
In stock. Delivery time: 1–3 working days (de)
P.I. Tschaikowsky: Album per la gioventù op.39, Git
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Album per la gioventù op.39

for: Guitar

Music score

Item no.: 771932

11.99  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 2–4 weeks.
A.H. Zabel: Ein Wort an die Herren Komponisten über die (Bu)
Albert Heinrich Zabel

Ein Wort an die Herren Komponisten über die praktische Verwendung der Harfe im Orchester

Reprint von 1894

Book (softcover)

Item no.: 130466

11.00  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 2–5 working days (de)
N. Rimski-Korsakow: Il volo del calabrone, Klav
Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow

Il volo del calabrone

(Scherzo) dall'opera "Lo Zar Saltan"

for: Piano

Music score

Item no.: 774942

7.99  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 5–7 working days (de)
Placeholder image
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Trumpet 1 Parts for the Tchaikovsky Symphonies

for: Trumpet

Music lesson book

Item no.: 939959

20.95  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 2–4 weeks.
Placeholder image
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Clarinet 1 Parts for the Tchaikovsky Symphonies

for: Clarinet

Music lesson book

Item no.: 941520

20.95  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 2–4 weeks.
Placeholder image
Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow

Principios de Orquestacion 1

Music lesson book

Item no.: 249850

52.80  €incl. VAT, plus shipping
Delivery time: 2–4 weeks.
Verband deutscher MusikschulenBundesverband der Freien MusikschulenJeunesses Musicales DeutschlandFrankfurter Tonkünstler-BundBundes­verb­and deutscher Lieb­haber-OrchesterStützpunkt­händ­ler der Wiener Urtext Edition

© 2004–2024 by Stretta Music. Order and buy sheet music online.

Your specialist for all kinds of sheet music. Online shop, sheet music, music scores and play along for download, books, music stands, music stand lights, accessories.