“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: Trumpet
CD-ROM
Item no.: 1204342
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 957875
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 603319
for: Flute, piano
Score, part
Item no.: 634029
Concert Band
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1070558
Fm
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1036790
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 1697324
from The Nutcracker
for: Flute, piano
Music score
Item no.: 732076
for: Mixed choir, piano
Choir score
Item no.: 131869
for: Alto saxophone (E-flat)
Music score
Item no.: 1106839
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 197578
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 956661
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 958158
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 813423
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 956537
for: Youth string orchestra
Score, Parts
Item no.: 198654
for: Women's choir (SSAA) a cappella
Choir score
Item no.: 1093162
for: Flexible ensemble (5 voices); drums ad lib.
Score
Item no.: 811545
for: Medium Low Voice and Piano
Book
Item no.: 169691
No. 53
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 322974
Arrangement for Narrator and Brass Ensemble
Simrock Original Edition
for: Narrator, brass ensemble (7 parts)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 194075
from Pictures at an Exhibition
for: Cello, piano
Music score
Item no.: 732071
for: Concert band
Score, Parts, CD
Item no.: 957325
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 863138
Study book
Item no.: 491669
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 1711880
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
English version
Lyric book
Item no.: 306846
F
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1029029
for: Mixed choir (SATB), piano
Score
Item no.: 1657346
for: Voice (low), piano
Score
Item no.: 169690
for: Voice (medium), piano
Score
Item no.: 169689
for: Concert band
Score, set of parts, online audio
Item no.: 579436
for: Piano, orchestra
Score (with critical report)
Item no.: 772272
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 972356
Bb
for: Voice, piano [guitar]
Piano/Voice/Guitar
Item no.: 1029931
"How fair this spot!"
for: Voice (soprano), piano
Music score
Item no.: 462507
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: 4 saxophones (SATBar)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 971726
for: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 803221
for: Ensemble
Score, Parts
Item no.: 812437
for: Percussion Sextet
Score, Parts
Item no.: 936307
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 871841
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 318132