“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: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 872186
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 893389
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 993114
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 877903
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 886749
for: Percussion ensemble
Score
Item no.: 926130
for: TASTEN- UND BALGINSTRUMENTE KLAVIER KLAVIER ZWEIHÄNDIG
Item no.: 1538779
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 956972
for: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones (quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 659830
Item no.: 612362
for: Piano, strings
Score
Item no.: 138458
for: Flute, string orchestra
Set of parts (Strings)
Item no.: 430695
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 430690
for: Flute, string orchestra
Violin 1 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 430683
for: Orchesterwerke Sinfonien, Streicherstimme
Book
Item no.: 1204580
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 901227
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005496
for: 2 pianos
Single edition
Item no.: 1096186
for: Cello, orchestra
Violin 2 (orchestral part)
Item no.: 628958
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358958
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358957
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 358836
for: Voice (low), piano
Piano reduction
Item no.: 358779
for: Trumpet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 891523
for: Symphonic orchestra
Cello (orchestral part)
Item no.: 340539
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 894837
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 171871
for: Flute, piano
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 581003
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 896770
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 892536
for: Piano
Item no.: 1618706
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1648210
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 1648097
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1647941
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 1538923
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1540624
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 1620646
for: Voice, piano
Item no.: 229271
for: Oboe and Wind Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1212279
for: 3 flutes (trio)
Book
Item no.: 1212135
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 1105765
Klassik
for: Voice (low)
Book
Item no.: 1204689
for: Male choir (TTBB), piano
Choir score
Item no.: 1092762
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1132463
für C-, B- und F-Instrumente
for: Flexible wind ensemble (4 voices)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 778045
Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1194979
Klassik
for: Voice (low)
Book
Item no.: 1204591