“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: Piano
Music score, online audio
Item no.: 1541582
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 284747
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 228994
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391837
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 549336
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 316968
from "The Nutcracker"
for: Piano 4 hands
Music score
Item no.: 725002
for: Cello, piano
Item no.: 156032
for: Mixed choir (SATB), orchestra
Score
Item no.: 560221
for: 2 Violas and Piano
Book
Item no.: 163206
for: 2 violins, piano
Item no.: 299118
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 457008
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 159913
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 137626
for: Piano, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 197741
Edition Peters Green Series
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 378364
for: 4 recorders (SATB quartet)
Item no.: 363009
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part, online audio (playback)
Item no.: 817882
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 351012
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 166874
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 187413
for: Piano 4 hands
Ensemble score
Item no.: 215227
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 443931
for: Melody instrument (C), guitar
Score, part
Item no.: 662611
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: 2 violins, viola, cello (string quartet)
Study score
Item no.: 731829
for: Voice (low), piano
Piano/Vocal
Item no.: 1025395
for: Trumpet [cornet], piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1282182
for: Organ
Sheet music
Item no.: 2293
for: Violin, piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1242762
Yamashita Edition 1
for: Guitar
Music score
Item no.: 327702
for: Piano Trio
Set of parts
Item no.: 198094
for: Violin [cello], piano
Item no.: 356263
for: Violin, orchestra
Harmony parts (complete winds)
Item no.: 582822
for: Voice (medium), piano
Item no.: 136915
for: Harp
Music score
Item no.: 669460
for: Piano
Item no.: 494405
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 692531
for: Violin, piano
Score, Parts
Item no.: 498715
for: String orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 256668
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Score
Item no.: 225236
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 287885
for: Violin, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 300114
for: Symphonic orchestra
Book
Item no.: 169959
for: Symphonic school orchestra
Score, Piano reduction, Solo parts
Item no.: 343176
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score (Urtext edition)
Item no.: 669608
Fantasy Overture
Eulenburg Miniature Scores
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 391882
für Orchester
Studienpartitur
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 1344019
The Monuments of Russian Sacred Music Serie IX, Vol. 1
for: Mixed choir (SATB) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 297337