“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.
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 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.
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.
Vereinfachte Klavierbegleitung
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1610644
Dm
for: Bassoon, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589094
D
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589632
C
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589165
Bm
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589252
D
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589310
Gb
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589308
F
for: Clarinet, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589135
G
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589633
Am
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589251
G
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589309
D
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589128
C
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1589671
C
for: Piano, French Horn
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589445
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1582944
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1582945
completed and orchestrated by Alexander Glasunow
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1582218
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1582262
op. 39/2
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 1582217
op. 40/2
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1582261
for: Concert band
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 1562557
D
for: Cello, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1561262
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1556261
Bb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554477
G
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553988
Bb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553809
G
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554482
Bb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554402
C
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554352
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553680
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553475
E
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553932
F
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553158
Bb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554729
Am
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554457
Em
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554496
Am
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554263
F
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553089
Dm
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554624
Bb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553967
F
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554300
F
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553111
D
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553135
Ab
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553873
Eb
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1553783
Cm
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1554213
Gegenwartsmusik
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1163394
édition bon(n)orgue Vol. 45
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1550313