Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich 1804 - 1857
Author: Nohara, Yasuko
Last updated：June 1, 2007
Author: Nohara, Yasuko
Russian composer. Known as the founder of Russian national music. Born into a landowner's family in Novospasskoye village near Smolensk, he grew up surrounded by the sound of church bells and peasant songs. He began studying music in 1815, and in 1818, he also received lessons from John Field. After graduating from a noble boarding school in St. Petersburg, he worked at the Ministry of Transport (1824-1828). Alongside his duties, he composed romances, piano pieces, and chamber music, attracting attention in high society.
From 1830 to 1833, he studied music in Italy. While greatly inspired by the latest music there, including operas by Bellini and Donizetti, he became strongly aware of his identity as a Russian. On his way back to Russia, in Berlin, he received instruction from music theorist Siegfried Dehn, which solidified his sense of direction.
After returning home, he composed the opera Ivan Susanin (1836). Although following the form of Italian opera, this nationalistic opera, based on Russian folk songs, along with Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842), based on an old folk tale, became the cornerstone of Russian nationalist opera.
In Paris in 1844, he was captivated by Berlioz's colorful orchestral works. The following year, seeking orchestral material, he departed for Spain and composed two Spanish Overtures using the country's evocative melodies. Gaining confidence from this, he began Kamarinskaya (1848) after returning home. In the Russian musical scene of that time, where Italian-style music was dominant, his completion of an orchestral work based on Russian folk songs left a valuable mark as the progenitor of the nationalist school in the field of orchestral music as well.
Works(55)
Piano Solo (16)
pieces (4)
variation (7)
Variations on a Russian Song "Among the Gentle Valleys" G. vi, 51
Key: a-moll Composed in: 1826 Playing time: 2 min 50 sec
Variations on a Theme from Cherubini's Opera "Faniska" G. vi, 55
Key: B-Dur Composed in: 1826 Playing time: 4 min 00 sec
Variations on the Song "Benedetta sia la madre" G. vi, 26, 39
Key: E-Dur Composed in: 1826 Playing time: 13 min 50 sec
mazurka (7)
polka (2)
waltz (5)
borello (2)
other dances (1)
nocturne (2)
Reduction/Arrangement (5)
Rondino brilliante on a theme from the opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini G. vi, 104
Key: B-Dur Composed in: 1831 Playing time: 6 min 00 sec
Variazioni brillanti on a theme from Donizetti's Anna Bolena G. vi, 79
Key: A-Dur Composed in: 1831 Playing time: 9 min 50 sec
Variations on a theme from the opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini G. vi, 118
Key: C-Dur Composed in: 1832 Playing time: 9 min 40 sec
Various works (7)
Piano Ensemble (4)
Reduction/Arrangement (1)
Various works (2)
Lied (1)