“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.
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 638915
Book
Item no.: 430001
for: 4 Guitars
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1136270
for: Double bass, piano
Buch
Item no.: 1135953
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 325176
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 963434
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 169661
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 412905
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 908708
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 564314
for: Violin, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 902383
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Book
Item no.: 164911
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 352662
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 898052
for: Concert band
Direktion
Item no.: 897856
for: Concert band
Conductors part, set of parts
Item no.: 890432
for: 8 cellos
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1009262
for: Flexible ensemble
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 661017
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Taschenpartitur
Item no.: 225129
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 391474
for: 2 oboes, cor anglais
Score, Parts
Item no.: 630427
Lyric book
Item no.: 149450
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 900453
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 245965
for: Jazz ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 942974
for: Clarinet, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1301372
for: Tenor recorder, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1301362
for: Baritone saxophone, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1301352
for: Horn (F), organ [piano]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1301349
for: Trombone, guitar
Sheet music
Item no.: 1301342
for: Violin, piano [organ]
Sheet music
Item no.: 1301337
for: Piano, orchestra
Sheet music
Item no.: 1308026
for: Clarinet, concert band
Sheet music
Item no.: 1313055
for: Trumpet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1310664
for: Soprano saxophone, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1285178
for: Tenor saxophone (B-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1285176
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1285174
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1285166
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1286171
for: Horn (F), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1286164
for: 4 brass instruments
Sheet music
Item no.: 1285338
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1311310
for: Brass band
Sheet music
Item no.: 686107
for: Euphonium, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1281998
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1281995
for: Violin, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1281993
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1282364
for: Tuba (E-flat), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1282175