“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: Violin, orchestra
Score (hardcover, with musicological analysis)
Item no.: 1544429
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 150214
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 241827
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197620
Dushkin Transcriptions
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 720933
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 144556
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 410052
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 631133
for: Clarinet, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1299093
for: Cello, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1285162
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 404223
from 'Eugene Onegin'
for: Flute, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 993716
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1383163
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 379539
Réduction pour clarinette et piano
for: Clarinet (B-flat), piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 329378
Nr. 8 Romanze Paulinens und russisches Lied
for: Voice, piano
Music score
Item no.: 732372
op. 40/2
for: Violin [cello], piano
Music score
Item no.: 723844
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 322196
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 224676
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 208806
arranged for double bass and piano
for: Double bass, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 635954
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 432651
for: Accordion
Item no.: 469408
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 432906
Nine pieces for string quartet
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 358770
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 358624
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 358987
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392443
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 695479
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 268379
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 124414
for: Voice, orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 294968
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 621811
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 201448
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 135492
for: Piano
Item no.: 617081
for: Piano
Music score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 281157
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391650
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 401578
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 379209
for: Violin, guitar
Item no.: 491527
Symphonic Suite
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 759146
from the "Nutcracker Suite"
for: Flexible ensemble (5 parts), piano (school orchestra)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 341954
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 244998
14 Original Works
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 780190
for: Violin, piano
Music score
Item no.: 1341255
for: Piano, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 213738
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 432905