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Period: to
Glinka
Mihail Ivanovich Glinka
Genres: opera, romance, symphonic music, chamber music
Most famous works: Ruslan and Lyudmila, A Life for the Tsar
Total works: ~200
Fun fact: He was fluent in six foreign languages. -
Period: to
Rubinstein
Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein
Genres: operas, ballets, symphonies, overtures, concerts
Most famous works: Daemon, Feramors, Maccabees
Total works: >200
Fun fact: He is the founder of professional music education in Russia -
Period: to
Borodin
Alexander Porfirievich Borodin
Genres: opera, symphony, chamber music
Most famous works: Bogatyrs, The Tsar's Bride, Mlada
Total works: 19
Fun fact: All his life Borodin considered himself a chemist, and treated music as a hobby. -
Period: to
Balakirev
Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev
Genres: symphony, romances
Most famous works: Fantasy on themes from Glinka's opera "Ivan Susanin"
Total works: ~100
Fun fact: Balakirev was an ardent opponent of conservatories, believing that talent can only be cultivated at home. -
Period: to
Mussogorsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
Genres: pens, orchestral pieces, cycles of vocal and piano music, romances and songs, choirs
Most famous works: Boris Godunov, Khovanshchina, Salambo
Total works: >100
Fun fact: -
Period: to
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Genres: symphonies, operas, ballets, concerts, choral music, romances
Most famous works: Waltz of the Flowers, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dance of the Little Swans, Slavic March
Total works: >150
Fun fact: Burned the first two operas -
Period: to
Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov
Genres: Operas, Symphonic, Vocal compositions
Most famous works: Pskovite, May Night, Snow Maiden
Total works: ~30
Fun fact: Rimsky-Korsakov hated music lessons as a child, dreaming of naval service. -
Period: to
Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov
Genres: operas, ballets, symphonies
Most famous works: Raymonda
Total works: >110
Fun fact: Glazunov became a professor and then director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory without having a conservatory education. -
Period: to
Kalinnikov
Vasily Sergeevich Kalinnikov
Genres: opera and symphony
Most famous works: Symphony No. 2 A-dur, Intermezzo No. 1 fis-moll
Total works: <30
Fun fact: He was very poor and suffered from tuberculosis, and when he saved up money for treatment he died -
Period: to
Scryabin
Alexander Nikolaevich Skyabin
Genres: poems, nocturnes, sonatas, preludes
Most famous works: Poem of Ecstasy, Prometheus
Total works: 196
Fun fact: Scriabin died from sepsis resulting from a carbuncle on the upper lip. -
Period: to
Raсhmaninov
Sergey Vasilevich Raсhmaninov
Genres: symphony, opera, piano concerto, piano miniature
Most famous works: Fantasy piece op. 3 No. 4 “Punichinelle”, Etude in G minor, op. 33 No. 8
Total works: >150
Fun fact: While studying at the conservatory, Rachmaninov earned a special assessment from Tchaikovsky, who took the exam in harmony - he gave him an A with four pluses. -
Period: to
Gliere
Reingold Moritsevich Gliere
Genres: opera, symphony, classical music, folk and ballet
Most famous works: Ilya Muromets, Victory, March of the Red Army
Total works: >300
Fun fact: Glier's work in Kyiv as rector of the conservatory occurred during the era of revolutionary upheavals. At that time, power in the city changed more than fifteen times. He was arrested five times and sentenced to death for collaborating with the previous hostile regime. -
Period: to
Medtner
Nikolai Karlovich Medtner
Genres: chamber instrumental works, sonatas, romances
Most famous works: Window, Raven, Elegy
Total works: >200
Fun fact: Medtner did not adhere to any of the musical styles characteristic of the first half of the 20th century. -
Period: to
Myaskovsky
Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky
Genres: symphonic music, romance, mass song
Most famous works: Sixth Symphony
Total works: ~110
Fun fact: The composer went out in public so rarely that he received the nickname Misanthrope -
Period: to
Starvinsky
Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky
Genres: opera, symphony, chamber music and academic music of the 20th century
Most famous works: Persephone, Playing Cards, Orpheus
Total works: ~140
Fun fact: while a law student, Stravinsky took music lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov himself, a close family friend -
Period: to
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev
Genres: opera, ballet, symphony
Most famous works: Peter and the Wolf, Opera "War and Peace", Ballet "Cinderella", "Romeo and Juliet"
Total works: >130
Fun fact: The composer was partial to playing chess, claiming that the logical chains that arise in his head during the game help him create music. -
Period: to
Shebalin
Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin
Genres: opera, cantata, symphony
Most famous works: Lenin, The Taming of the Shrew, Sun over the Steppe
Total works: ~50
Fun fact: Member of the futuristic literary and artistic group "Chervonnaya Troika" -
Period: to
Khachaturian
Aram Ilyich Khachaturyan
Genres: academic music, ballet, concert music, symphonic music, chamber music
Most famous works: Masquerade, Saber Dance, Spartacus
Total works: ~400
Fun fact: his music has been used in a large number of modern cartoons and TV series -
Period: to
Shostakovich
Dmitry Dmitrievich Shostakovich
Genres: symphonic and chamber music, opera
Most famous works: Leningrad Symphony, operas “The Nose” and “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”
Total works: ~90
Fun fact: Shostakovich's hobby is football. He was not only fond of this sport, but also graduated from the school of football referees. -
Period: to
Sviridov
Georgy Vasilievich Sviridov
Genres: symphonic and choral music
Most famous works: vocal and symphonic frescoes “Poem in memory of Sergei Yesenin”
Total works: ~100
Fun fact: Sviridov loved to read. His home library contained more than 2.5 thousand books. -
Period: to
Schnittke
Alfred Garrievich Schnittke
Genres: academic music, film music
Most famous works: A tale of wanderings
Total works: ~400
Fun fact: The music of his compositions is heard in more than 30 Soviet films. -
Period: to
Tishchenko
Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko
Genres: opera and symphony
Most famous works: "Yaroslavna", "Twelve"
Total works: ~100
Fun fact: Tishchenko’s teacher and main inspirer was Shostakovich