Russian secular music became popular in the 18th century. People's interest in music led to the collection and adaptation of folk songs. These folk songs had a great influence on the later development of Russian music. In the second half of the century, composers and performers appeared one after another, and by the 1970s opera performances reflecting urban and rural life were already on stage.
In the first half of the 19th century, a unique and novel music genre formed in Russia, and Glinka, the founder of Russian classical music, emerged. M. I. Glinka's (1804-1857) orchestral works "Kamalinskaya" and "Madrid Nights" are earlier representative works of the Russian symphony. They are different from Western European music with their unrestrained boldness and have an important influence on the later Russian symphony. had a great influence on the development of the symphony. The great Russian composer Tchaikovsky once said that the entire "Russian Symphony Orchestra was born in Glinka's "Kamalinskaya" - just like an oak tree is born from acorns." Glinka's important works include the patriotic opera "Ivan Susanin" and the classical opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila". The composer integrated Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Finnish, Polish, Georgian, Spanish and other tunes into his works, profoundly expressing patriotism and praising the people's achievements and virtues. Once the work came out, he immediately ranked among the world's famous composers, and his reputation still exists today.
The most famous Russian composer after Glinka was Yashay Dalgomysky (1813-1869). He composed many vocal works, the best of which are the operas "The Stone Guest" and "Russalka". The melody of "Russalka" was born out of Russian folk songs, and later became one of the most popular Russian folk operas.
In the second half of the 19th century, Russian music entered a period of prosperity. The 1960s and 1970s were known as the "Sturm und Drang" era of Russian music. The symbol of the prosperity of music was the emergence of a collective of composers. Powerful Group". The "Powerful Group" was headed by Glinka's student M. A. Balakirev (1836-1910), and its main members included Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Yi, their activities were supported and affirmed by the famous art theorist and critic V. V. Stasov (1824-1906). The "Powerful Group" aims to advocate realism and promote Russian national music. Its creations are mostly based on Russian history, people's lives, folklore and literary masterpieces. They pay attention to absorbing and using folk tunes, and innovate in artistic forms and creative techniques. The works of Mo. P. Mussorgsky (1839-1881) are good at character description and psychological characterization, and their tone has the characteristics of folk songs. His representative works are the operas "Boris Godunov" and "The Rebellion of the Khovanskyites". Both operas take the Russian people as the protagonists and express the people's hatred of autocratic tyranny. The representative work of A.B. Borodin (1833-1887) is the opera "Prince Igor" based on "The Expedition of Igor". The opera is spectacular and successfully utilizes Russian and Oriental folk songs and dances. N. An. Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1905) worked on a variety of themes and wrote 15 operas, symphonies, romances and other musical works. The operas with far-reaching influence include the opera "The Betrothed of the Tsar", the fantasy operas and mythological operas "Satko", "May Night", "Snow White", etc. based on narrative poems and fairy tales.
The greatest Russian composer is P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). His music creation began in the 1960s when the "Powerful Group" was active, and the 1970s to the early 1990s were the heyday of his creation. Tchaikovsky's works are known for their profound democratic spirit and distinctive national characteristics. His lyrical operas "Eugene Onegin" and "The Queen of Spades", ballets "Swan Lake" [photo album], "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker" are all peaks in the history of Russian music and art. Particularly famous among Tchaikovsky's six symphonies are the Third, Fourth and Sixth (Pathétique) symphonies. His symphony "Romeo and Juliet" is famous for its beautiful melody. Tchaikovsky's creations are based on elegies, reflecting the mood of Russian intellectuals in the 1980s. They powerfully and truly express the contradictions of the times, the impulse of struggle, people's desire to seek comfort and their longing for a better future. Tchaikovsky won world fame for the Russian symphony school.
Later Russian composers include Glazunov, Rachmaninoff and others. Sergey V. Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was a composer and pianist. He went abroad in 1918 and engaged in performance activities in Europe and the United States. His creations were deeply influenced by Tchaikovsky, and his works include three symphonies, three operas (including "Alego" based on Pushkin's long poem "Gypsy"), 24 piano preludes, and 4 piano concertos. and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" for piano and orchestra, etc.
After the October Revolution, several generations of new composers emerged in the Soviet Union due to their emphasis on traditional music forms. They have made great achievements in the creation of symphonies, operas and ballets. These composers each have their own emphasis and show different styles and characteristics.
In addition to the ballets "Red Poppy" and "The Bronze Horseman", the old composer Lemo Glière (1875-1956) also wrote some operas that absorbed folk tunes and were of high artistic value. .
His student Xie Xie Prokofiev (1891-1953) created a wide range of themes, his musical language was fresh and vivid, full of originality, and he was very influential in the world. He wrote the famous ballets "Romeo and Juliet", "Cinderella", "Jewel Flower" and the large-scale opera "War and Peace". His Fifth and Seventh Symphonies are widely circulated. Yu.A. Shapolin (1887-1966) often composed ballads based on the lyrics of Russian poets. His representative works are the historical symphony cantata "In the Fields of Kulikovo" and the opera "The Decembrists". N.Y. Miaskovsky (1881-1950) specialized in symphony composition and wrote 27 symphonies in his life, the last one being the most famous. He is a famous music educator who has trained more than 80 composition talents. A.I. Khachaturian (1903-1978) was an Armenian and a student of Miaskovsky. He is familiar with Eastern music styles, attaches great importance to the source of folk creation, and is good at the creation of instrumental concertos. He composed many piano, violin and cello concertos with rich colors, strong emotions and strong national sentiments, which had a great influence on the formation of the national symphony school.
The most famous composer during the Soviet period was Shostakovich. Ji·Ji Shostakovich (1906-1975) was the long-term chairman of the Soviet Union of Composers. His creations are mainly symphonies and are known as one of the musical peaks of the 20th century. His creations mostly reflect major social themes, with war and peace, anti-fascist struggle, etc. as the main themes. The artistic feature of the work is a combination of strong passion and delicate and secret lyricism, with a style close to Mussorgsky, Bach and Beethoven. He has written 15 symphonies, as well as the opera "Katerina Izmailova" with historical themes, the oratorio "Song of the Forest" with the theme of socialist construction, violin concerto, etc., and also composed for "Maxine III" He has composed soundtracks for dozens of films and dramas such as "Party", "Men with Guns", and "The Young Guards". The works that brought him fame are the First, Fifth, Seventh and Eleventh Symphonies. Among them, the Seventh (Leningrad) Symphony was written during the siege of Leningrad. It is famous for its tragic nature and is a monumental work in the war years.
Piano performance in the Soviet Union formed a school of its own and became world-famous. The founders of the Soviet school were pianists and art educators Kony Igumnov (1873-1948) and Gen. Gu Neygaoutz (1888-1964). The later famous pianist was Igumnov's student L. N. Obolin (1907-1974). Famous contemporary pianists include Neygaouz's students S. Che Richter (1915-1) and E. G. Gillelis (1916-1).
Violin playing in the Soviet Union also has its own school of thought. Da Fei Oistrakh (1908-1974) was the main representative of the Soviet violin school and a world-famous violin master. He mainly performs Western European music, Russian classical music and contemporary Soviet works with rigorous style and profound expression. He once won first place in the 1937 "Ysayi International Violin Competition".
Russia and the Soviet Union both have a number of famous opera singers. Fey Chaliapin (1873-1938) was a famous Russian bass singer and opera singer. He is good at singing "Volga Boatman Song" and has played the roles of Susanin and Boris. He went abroad in 1922 and never returned to the Soviet Union. Opera singers who were familiar to Soviet audiences before the 1950s included the lyric tenor Seiya Remeshev (1902-1977), the mezzo-soprano Na. 1961) and lyric coloratura soprano V. F. Barsova (1892-1967). The most famous contemporary female singer is I. Kon Arkhipova (1925-)
Russian ballet is a school of its own, formed in the 18th century. The famous Russian ballet dancer in the early twentieth century was Ann Pavlova (1881-1931). She starred in traditional plays such as "Death of the Swan", "Egyptian Nights", and "Palace of Almida". In 1913, she left Russia and lived in Europe and the United States to perform in various places, spreading Russian ballet in Europe. The world-famous Soviet ballet dancers since the middle of this century are G. S. Ulanova (1910-1), and later Ma. M. Plisetskaya (1925-1). The younger generation of famous Soviet ballerinas is Ulanova's student Ye Sze Maksimova (1939).
The Composers Association was established in the Soviet Union in 1948 and had more than 2,100 members in 1979. The association often holds music festivals and concerts in various places. The first International Tchaikovsky Music Competition was held in Moscow in 1958, and it was held every four years thereafter. At the Sixth Tchaikovsky Concert in 1978, Soviet singer Shemchuk, violinist Grubert and pianist Pletnev respectively won the first prize. Since 1969, an international ballet competition has been held in Moscow every four years. Soviet actors won first place more than once.
In 1980, the Soviet Union had 44 opera and dance theaters, 44 symphony orchestras, 20 music academies and 18 ballet dance schools. Famous theaters in the Soviet Union include the Bolshoi Theater, the Kirov Opera and Dance Theater in Leningrad, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater in Moscow, and the Shevchenko Opera and Dance Theater in Kiev.
The largest conservatories are the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory.