“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: Concert band
Score
Item no.: 799532
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 805634
for: Violin, piano
Item no.: 558230
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1351112
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1351108
for: Piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1351016
for: Flexible ensemble (4 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1210278
for: Flexible ensemble (4 voices)
Sheet music
Item no.: 1210277
for: Voice (medium), piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1647
for: 3 clarinets (B-flat), 2 saxophones (TBar)
Score, parts (pdf download)
Item no.: 1615
for: 2 trumpets, organ
Organ score, Parts
Item no.: 245871
for: Choral
Item no.: 1375648
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Item no.: 317939
for: Piano
Item no.: 356210
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 314524
for: Piano Reduction
Piano reduction
Item no.: 562818
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 262711
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 674013
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 890769
Sound Spectacular
70 Repertoire Favorities for Young Players
for: Horn; piano ad lib.
Music score
Item no.: 691222
Morceau de concert
for: Cello, piano
Piano score, solo part
Item no.: 554862
for: Symphonic orchestra
Score
Item no.: 416706
for: Piano
Item no.: 461713
for: String orchestra
Score
Item no.: 1620320
for: 9 Flöten
Score, Parts
Item no.: 1352182
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 311690
for: Concert band
Score, Parts
Item no.: 803713
for: 4 guitars (quartet)
Set of parts
Item no.: 1583453
for: Organ
Music score
Item no.: 675569
for: Piano
Item no.: 169595
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 667338
for: Piano 4 hands
Item no.: 457378
for: Violin, piano; violin, cello, double bass ad lib.
Score, Parts
Item no.: 488660
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 292984
for: Orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 347333
for: Trumpet [cornet], piano
Sheet music
Item no.: 1711688
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score
Item no.: 392041
for: Piano
Item no.: 272986
for: Orchestra and Piano
Study score
Item no.: 621808
for: Piano
Music score
Item no.: 284453
for: Soloists, mixed choir, orchestra
Piano reduction
Item no.: 137165
for: Violin, cello, piano (piano trio)
Score, Parts
Item no.: 378359
for: Piano
Solostimme
Item no.: 885237
for: Symphonic orchestra
Study score, CD
Item no.: 554675
for: Mixed choir a cappella
Score
Item no.: 658397
for: Piano
Item no.: 175257