“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: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 316365
op. 51/6
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 761125
for: 2 violins, viola, cello, piano (piano quintet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 147956
for: Double bass, piano
Score, solo part
Item no.: 675519
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 134743
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197395
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 133260
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 432910
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 867065
for: Cello, orchestra
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 356990
From the opera 'The Tale of Tsar Saltan'
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 209012
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 360649
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 676420
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358858
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 559479
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197686
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 674139
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1646567
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 181589
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 432907
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 1202665
Edition Schott
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 756739
for: Voice (baritone/alto), piano
Music score
Item no.: 722414
for: Voice (high), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1027395
for: Violin, piano
Instrumental Solo & Piano Accompaniment
Item no.: 1589128
The great violin solos from the orchestral repertoire with piano accomp.
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 655569
Edition Schott
for: Cello, guitar
Music score
Item no.: 739831
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 214908
Study score
Item no.: 184038
for: 9 Klarinetten oder Klarinetten Chor
Score
Item no.: 638245
for: Piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 413423
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 470230
for: Piano
Item no.: 617084
for: Cello, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 488676
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 636617
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197635
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 947114
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 160806
for: Trombone, concert band
Piano reduction, solo part
Item no.: 966670
op. 3/4
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 749037
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 725003
Overture
for: Orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1341039
Orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakow
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 755958
Russian Dance from "The Nutcracker"
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 758455
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 297226
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 137627
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 641239
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 900142