The most famous composers of Russia and the world

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

World musical culture has evolved over the years. One of the leading places in it is occupied by the Russian national school. This is an absolutely justified statement, because many famous composers in Russia are highly valued to this day all over the world. Famous Russian composers, thanks to their works, glorified their country, and also had a direct influence on their foreign colleagues.

A bit of history

The heyday of Russian musical culture falls on the eighteenth century. This period is also considered to be the era of great shifts. In this period of time, the first Russian composer school appears, the main traditions of musical performance are formed. As for the genres, the most complex of them developed quite rapidly: opera, choral and instrumental music. However, opera should still be considered the main genre, and in this period it was popular not only among Russian composers, but also abroad. In Russia, operaunlike the foreign one, it was presented in a more understandable, accessible, concise and realistic form, based on a folk basis. Along with it, choral music also developed, which by all means accompanied each performance. In this article you will find not only interesting information, but also photos of famous composers.

Eighteenth century

At this stage, the first famous Russian composers appeared, one of them was Dmitry Bortnyansky. Thanks to him, Russian music received new traditions and trends, in the genre of a choral concert, for example. He was famous for his own style of processing - he combined the features of old tunes with modern harmonic tendencies. He could enrich any, even the simplest, texture and turn it into something unique thanks to the use of rhythmic diversifications, the diverse use of choral composition, and remarkable polyphonic mastery. It is also worth mentioning that the composer worked in the court chapel and had a considerable influence on its performing style, like many famous Russian composers. The most famous choral concertos by Dmitry Bortnyansky are "Do not reject me in old age" and choral concerto No. 33.

Mikhail Glinka

Famous Russian composers began to appear in the eighteenth century, but in fact, the real heyday of Russian classical music came at the end of the eighteenth century. He contacts, first of all, with Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka. It was this composer who discovered the newhistorical period in music. His main achievement was the refraction of the main classical trends. Glinka worked, one might say, in all musical genres, he wrote operas, works for a symphony orchestra, pieces for the piano, many romances and vocal compositions, his creations for chamber ensembles are also known. The innovative role of Mikhail Ivanovich is quite large, many famous composers tried to match his unique style. Glinka deeply understood the nationality, this is quite well reflected in the opera "Ivan Susanin". The composer is also known for his special approach to peasant song, often in his works he used chant and variation. It is worth noting that before Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, many famous composers wrote similar works, but it is he who is considered the founder of the Russian national classical opera. The most famous in our time are the compositions "Ruslan and Lyudmila" and "Ivan Susanin".

Alexander Dargomyzhsky

In the nineteenth century, an advanced social movement developed in Russia, critical realism flourished intensively, this applies to both art in general and music. Alexander Sergeevich Dargomyzhsky was a representative of his own, unique style - intonational realism. Like many of his contemporaries, also famous composers, he continued the traditions and innovations introduced by Mikhail Glinka, but introduced some innovative originality, emphasizing his brightstyle. One of the greatest achievements of Alexander Sergeevich is the opera "Mermaid". Its innovation, first of all, lies in the fact that this is the first lyric-psychological drama in the Russian classical opera school with the use of through development. It is also important that almost all innovative elements are shown in choral scenes, they are characterized by melodiousness and some resemblance to the once popular urban romance. It is also the first opera in which the images-characters are quite original - these are ordinary people of different social strata, and mystical mermaids. Another popular work of Dargomyzhsky is the Petersburg Serenades vocal-chamber ensemble.

The most famous composers,"The Mighty Handful" association

This period was also quite significant. The end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth became one of the most significant stages in the development of Russian culture. It was during this period that famous musical composers created the modern, well-known Mighty Handful community. This group made an unusually significant contribution to the development of the Russian national school of composers. And this is absolutely not surprising. After all, it included such famous composers as Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov, Mily Alekseevich Balakirev and Caesar Antonovich Cui. Their work is characterized by profound stylistic changes in the genre of opera, in particular, great importance was attached to historical dramaturgy, as well ascrowd scenes.

Despite the fact that all their activities, in principle, were aimed at maintaining the unique traditions of Alexander Dargomyzhsky and Mikhail Glinka, they supplemented them with a lot of changes and innovations, which subsequently brought them incredible popularity outside of Russia.

Modest Mussorgsky

Mussorgsky is the founder of an absolutely modernized direction in the Russian classical opera school. Quite often he was compared with Rubinstein. He created the direction of musical drama. His operatic work is also remembered for the fact that the works use such unique features as new means of musical expression used to characterize the image of the people, the differentiation of the choir and the allocation of specific voices in its composition, the frequent use of melodic recitative, dialogues. It is worth noting that the choral scenes are quite majestic. Following the unique tendencies of Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky used the same scenes of through development. However, the composer's achievements are not limited only to the operatic genre, he was excellent at choral arrangements of folk songs, independent piano works and large-scale compositions for the choir, vocal and symphonic masterpieces. The most popular in our time are the composer's operas "Khovanshchina" and "Boris Godunov". Thanks to them, Modest Petrovich was recognized by many famous composers of the world.

Sergei Rachmaninov

One of the most popular composers of the twentieth century in Russia can rightfully be considered Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov. In his works, they clearly conveyed the role of melody. The main source of inspiration for the composer was the connection with Russian folk songs, with the ancient choral culture. Sincerity, direct expression of feelings and realistic transmission of a life picture can also be called the main principle of his work. The most successful genre for the composer was vocal and symphonic works. They are endowed with incredible psychological depth and philosophical thought. Popular in our time cantata "Spring" and "Bells". By the way, the latter is a composition thanks to which famous composers of the world were inspired to write their own masterpieces. These were Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Georgy Sviridov. The famous Soviet composer Yury Alexandrovich Shaporin also belongs here.

Most musicians also highly appreciated and appreciate the piano works of Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, his preludes and etudes are incredibly beautiful, one of the most popular concert pieces is the famous "Elegy".

The original photos are available below. There are not so many famous Soviet composers, but they have had a considerable influence on the musical culture of Russia. Among them are Dmitry Shostakovich, Andrey Eshpay, Rodion Shchedrin, Alexandra Pakhmutova.

Famous composers of the world. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Speaking offamous composers in the world, the first one most often remembered is, of course, Mozart. The composer was born in Salzburg, he started playing very early, in fact, at the age of 6 he was already touring and giving concerts. There is an opinion that the boy had phenomenal hearing, as well as memory. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played the violin, piano, organ and harpsichord, and also possessed excellent conducting skills and virtuoso improvisation skills. Many classical composers known for their original works have sought to emulate Mozart's unique style. In our time, the operas "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Magic Flute", as well as the fundamental "Requiem" can be attributed to his most popular compositions.

Composers of France: Georges Bizet

Famous French composers are quite popular these days. One of the most prominent is Georges Bizet - a unique representative of the period of romanticism. He wrote a large number of orchestral works, romances and pieces for piano. However, the most famous, and perhaps the most successful genre in which the composer worked is opera. Of course, the most famous can be called the incomparable "Carmen". Another, not so famous, but no less successful, was the opera "Pearl Seekers".

In conclusion, we can say that the songs of famous classical composers in Russia and around the world, as well as their piano, symphonic creations remain popular today. Enoughoften such works are heard at concerts, on TV in films and even in advertising. This suggests that the musical culture, acquiring a new facet over time, still remembers those classical traditions that were established by the most famous composers.