Russian Music

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Russian Music

• ShaDe, Tanairy, Lissette

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18th and 19th Century
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Background

• Russia was a late starter in the development of a
  native tradition in classical music
• Ivan IV hired composers and musicians to fill
  this void
• European music was seen as a mark of civilization
  and a way of Westernizing the country
• Many people werent aware that Russian composers
  existed

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Nationalism

• Russian composers had to write in Western style
  if they wanted recognition
• Russian music wasnt unique to the country
  because Russian composers traveled abroad,
  usually to Italy, to train
• Composers such as Dmitri Bortniansky, Maksim
  Berezovsky, and Artem Vedel traveled abroad.

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Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857)

• First great Russian composer to use native
  Russian music traditions
• Composed Ivan Susanin and Ruslan and Lyudmila
• His compositions gained fame by relying on
  distinctively Russian tunes and themes

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Russian Folk Music

• Primary source for younger generation composers
• A group called the Mighty Five proclaimed its
  purpose to compose and popularize Russian
  national traditions in classical music
• The Mighty Fives most notable compositions
  included The Snow Maiden, Sadko, Boris Godunov,
  Prince Igor, and Scheherazade.
• Many of the works by Glinka and the Mighty Five
  were based on Russian history, folk tales, and
  literature.
• Regarded as masterpieces of romantic nationalism
  in music

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Russian Musical Society (RMS)

• Founded in 1859
• Led by composer-pianists Anton and Nikolay
  Rubinstein
• The RMSs rival was the Mighty Five because the
  RMS was musically more conservative
• Founded Russias first Conservatories in St.
  Petersburg and Moscow

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Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

• Trained by the RMS
• Best known for his ballets like Swan Lake,
  Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker
• He remains Russias best known composer outside
  Russia

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Late 19th to Early 20th Centuries

• Saw the third wave of Russian classics Igor
  Stravinsky, Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Prokofiev,
  and Dmitri Shostakovich.
• These composers were experimental in style and
  musical language
• The so-called romance songs became very popular
• The greatest and most popular singers of this
  time sang in operas
• Singers usually composed music and wrote the
  lyrics