Russian MusicMikhail Glinka was the first Russian composer to create noteworthy Russian music. Prior to him, Russian music was dominated by foreigners. Glinka was influenced by Russian folk songs, Haydn, and Mozart. His major work is Kamarinskaya. Alexander Dargomizhsky was the next important Russian composer. He was influenced by Glinka and is remembered for his opera The Stone Guest. In this opera, he used continuous recitative, no key signatures, unusual modulations, and radical harmonies. The Russian Five, Mily Balakirev, Cesar Cui, Modest Musorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin are a famous group of composers who worked in the 1800's. These composers did not think of themselves as a group, but they did all follow the same basic principles in their music. They composed Russian nationalistic pieces by using religious and folk music as the basis for art music. They wanted freedom from strict forms in composition, advocated realism, and favored Romanticism. Tchaikovsky is another famous composer. Some of his most famous works are Swan Lake (1877), Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker (1892). Tchaikovsky was influenced by Russian folk songs and by Russian salon songs. Links
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