“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.
Reprint
Repertoire Explorer
Study Score 740
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
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Symphonische Dichtung
Repertoire Explorer
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
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Clarinet Quartet - Grade 2.5
for: 4 clarinets
Book
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for: Organ
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Klassik
for: Piano
Music score
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Klassik
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Music score
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Klassik
for: Piano
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for: Trombone, concert band
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for: Concert band
Score, Parts
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reduzierte Besetzung
for: Youth symphony orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1008835
for: Voice (medium), piano
Piano score
Item no.: 666265
Clarinet in A
for: Clarinet, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 166402
für Schlaginstrumente
for: SCHLAGINSTRUMENTE PAUKE PAUKE SOLO
Item no.: 1204013
Schlaginstrumente
for: SCHLAGINSTRUMENTE PAUKE PAUKE SOLO
Item no.: 342946
for: Piccolo and Piano
Buch
Item no.: 914163
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1344262
for: Voice, piano
Music score
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for: Klarinettenensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 994933
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 963528
for: FL (OB) KLAV (+ VC)
Item no.: 1667734
for: FL (OB) KLAV (+ VC)
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for: Piano
Music score
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for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 938568
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Book
Item no.: 904905
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 848960
for: String orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 945675
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 943408
for: Youth string orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 690426
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score, Parts
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for: Trumpet or Flugelhorn and Organ
Book
Item no.: 1165986
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 769876
for: Horn
CD-ROM
Item no.: 585083
for: Horn
CD-ROM
Item no.: 487425
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1005738
for: Klarinettenchor
Buch
Item no.: 924888
for: Oboe
Music score
Item no.: 926103
for: Voice (high), piano
Music score
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for: Fanfare
Score
Item no.: 986432
for: Jazz ensemble
Score
Item no.: 1025108
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 686899
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 942509
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 946753
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 948118
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 947970
for: Clarinet
CD-ROM
Item no.: 1204388
for: Bassoon
CD-ROM
Item no.: 1204381