“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.: 432905
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358877
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 663038
for: Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon (wind quintet)
Score, Set of parts
Item no.: 266096
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 766288
for: Violin, viola, cello, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 168508
for: 2 pianos
Music score
Item no.: 161830
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392473
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392040
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 349923
for: Alto saxophone, piano
Book
Item no.: 193039
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 168554
for: Organ 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 556733
Arrangement
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 797043
for: Piano
Item no.: 176986
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 287104
for: 2 pianos
Piano reduction
Item no.: 349903
for Piano
Schott Piano Classics
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 462737
for: Piano 6 hands
Item no.: 421033
for: Piano
Item no.: 404602
for: Symphonic orchestra
Book
Item no.: 243709
for: Violin, piano
Piano reduction, Solo part(s)
Item no.: 360545
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 318912
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 375851
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 605127
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 472105
from "Scheherazade"
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 747168
16 great Classics
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 620918
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 188746
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 817881
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 339380
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358986
for: Streichquartett, Kontrabass (ad libitum)
Score, part
Item no.: 611886
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 623224
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 619758
for: Piano, orchestra
Book
Item no.: 197743
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Set of parts
Item no.: 363812
for: Violin, string orchestra
Sheet music
Item no.: 1242765
for: Trumpet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1242599
for: Cello, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391997
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 172721
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 356199
(Urtext)
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 617082
aus "Die Jahreszeiten"
für Klarinette und Klavier
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 673371
op. 5
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 749000
for: Voice (low), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1649
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 2365
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 256564