“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: Flute
Instrumental Solo
Item no.: 1052790
for: Flexible ensemble (4 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1210279
for: Piano
Piano Solo
Item no.: 1024279
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 3448
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2080
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2079
for: Brass ensemble (10 parts)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 638143
for Violin and Orchestra
for: Violin, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 749237
for: Violin, cello, piano; violin, instrument (C/B-flat), double bass ad lib.
Score, Parts
Item no.: 153128
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 156702
op. 42/3
for: Voice (low), piano
Music score
Item no.: 759141
Overture
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 749294
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 638915
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1204584
Book
Item no.: 430001
for: Guitar or Lute
Score
Item no.: 412905
for: Symphonic orchestra
Book
Item no.: 367088
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 466439
for: 8 cellos
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1009262
for: Symphonic orchestra
Set of parts
Item no.: 681236
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 154629
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 900453
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 908708
for: 2 pianos
Buch + CD
Item no.: 162056
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 1582262
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 564314
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1591237
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 1678181
op. 23/5
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 732369
completed and orchestrated by Alexander Glasunow
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1582218
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 581691
for: Flute, violin, viola, cello (flute quartet)
Item no.: 276169
Book (Hardcover)
Item no.: 109317
for: Wind Octet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1345566
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 169661
for: Cello, orchestra
Study score, CD
Item no.: 491908
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 138474
for: Piano
Item no.: 357258
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358885
for: Voice (low), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 358832
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Score
Item no.: 358747
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 245965
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 391474
for: Violin, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 352662
for: Orchestra and Piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 197735
for: Piano
Music score, Playback-CD
Item no.: 432103
for: Flexible wind ensemble (4 voices); rhythm group ad lib.
Score, Parts
Item no.: 246694