“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, Parts, CD
Item no.: 957325
Study book
Item no.: 491669
from Pictures at an Exhibition
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 732047
from Pictures at an Exhibition
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 732071
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 863138
Arrangement for Narrator and Brass Ensemble
Simrock Original Edition
for: Narrator, brass ensemble (7 parts)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 194075
14 Original pieces with performing notes
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1215742
LKM Music
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 1347641
for: Concert band
Score, set of parts, online audio
Item no.: 579436
from Swan Lake
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 732043
from Swan Lake
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722289
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1029029
from Swan Lake
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722338
Lyric book
Item no.: 306846
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 1657346
for: Piano, orchestra
Score (with critical report)
Item no.: 772272
for: Voice (low), piano
Score
Item no.: 169690
for: Voice (medium), piano
Score
Item no.: 169689
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 957191
for: Klarinettenensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1107030
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 675374
for: Concert band
Score, set of parts, online audio
Item no.: 811865
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 803221
for: Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 812437
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 871841
for: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 971726
from The Nutcracker
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 722327
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1029931
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 972356
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 223468
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 149614
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 318132
for: Percussion Sextet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 936307
"How fair this spot!"
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 462507
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 891766
for: Clarinet
Music score
Item no.: 465160
for: Oboe [cor anglais]
CD-ROM
Item no.: 1204401
for: Clarinet, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 630729
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1197087
from Pictures at an Exhibition
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 732077
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1035498
for: Piano
Score
Item no.: 1204686
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 446979
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 675095
in a simple arrangement for piano
Get to Know Classical Masterpieces
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1215442
for: Women's Choir and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 897525
for: Mixed Choir [SATB] and Orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 893055