The Russian Music School Trivia Quiz

Answer: Glinka

The Russian national school was born in the XIX th century, with the major contribution of composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804 - 1857). His travels abroad accustomed him to the Western styles and forms of composition, which he adapted according to the Russian melodic tradition. Glinka was a promoter of Russian nationalist music and had a great influence on Balakirev, the guiding spirit of the group of nationalist Russian composers known as "The Five", which also included César Cui, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Answer: Borodin

Alexander Borodin (1833 - 1887) was a professor at the St-Petersburg Academy of Medicine. He was very devoted to his profession, so music was left on the second plan. However, this didn't prevent him from composing some exceptional works, some of which were left unfinished and later completed by his friend Rimsky-Korsakov.

This happened in the case of his most famous opera, "Prince Igor". Other valuable additions to the Russian nationalist symphonic repertoire are his three symphonies and the tone poem "In the Steppes of Central Asia".

Answer: Boris Godunov

Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881) belonged to the ranks of the Russian nobility. Serving as an officer for a period of time, he later resigned in order to entirely devote himself to composing. He died young, a consequence of his many excesses. He was an autodidact: he never wanted to learn anything about musical technique (although he took some lessons from Balakirev in his early years) and developed a style of his own, purely by instinct.

Therefore, it's no wonder that Mussorgsky's compositions have a unique stamp, mark of the unexpected.

This staggering impressionist composed magnificent works like: the opera "Boris Godunov" - which is one of peaks of lyric repertoire; "Khovanshchina" - an unfinished opera in which the choir finds a language of unusual force; the symphonic poem "Night on the Bare Mountain" - in which the rich instrumentation creates a fantastic scene; and the brilliant "Pictures at an Exhibition" - a piano cycle inspired by a memorial exhibition of drawings by Victor Hartmann.

Answer: Scheherazade

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1909), like his future friend Mussorgsky, abandoned his early career a as naval officer and was appointed professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He learned almost everything by himself and little by little became a very able technician.

His symphonic and dramatic work is considerable. He possessed a remarkable talent for harmonization and orchestration and he knew how to use instrumental combinations in order to produce all kinds of musical effects. His most important works include the operas "Sadko", "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (he composed fifteen operas), the vivace "Capriccio Espagnol" and the symphonic suite "Scheherazade". Rimsky-Korsakov made an important contribution in completing and rearranging some of the masterpieces left unfinished by his other colleagues from the group of "The Five".

He was also a very respected and inspiring teacher; some of his pupils, like Stravinsky and Glazunov, were later to become themselves very appreciated composers.

Answer: ballet

Despite being contemporary with the nationalist group of "The Five", Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) rather seems to belong to the International school of composition. A proper explanation would be the fact that he was an early student of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, whose founder, Anton Rubinstein, obviously encouraged Western influences (as opposed to Glinka's and later Balakirev's views). Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky's works gained an undisputed place in the international repertoire. To be mentioned here are two of his operas, "Eugene Onegin" and "The Queen of Spades", both with librettos by Pushkin, his ballet-scores "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Nutcracker", his six Symphonies (the last one, known as the "Pathetique" being performed at its debut under Tchaikovsky's direction), his three piano concertos and famous violin concerto, his three string quartets as well as some other piano works (including here the set of twelve pieces - "The Seasons").

Answer: piano

Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915) studied the piano at the Moscow Conservatory. The ever changing style of his compositions makes it almost impossible to confine him to an existing model. His earlier piano pieces resemble the works of Chopin and Liszt, yet his later ones prove more and more original.

He even reached new musical territories like atonality, making him a leading innovator in the field of harmony and rhythm. His few orchestral works include "The Poem of Ecstasy", "Prometheus (The Poem of Fire)" and a piano concerto. An interesting fact about Scriabin is his theosophical inspired idea of scening "a grandiose religious synthesis of all arts which would herald the birth of a new world".

Unfortunately, he died before this ultimate career goal could come into being (though he did write the libretto for this final work).

Answer: Rachmaninov

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) - piano virtuoso, respected conductor and accomplished composer of amazing popularity. His subtle harmony is very similar to that of the XIX th century, therefore he is generally regarded as a late representative of the romantic era.

Besides his highly praised piano works (the second and third Piano Concertos, the "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini", the "Etudes-tableaux", the sets of Preludes and "Moments musicaux" and the two Piano Sonatas) one could highlight his magnificent choral settings "The Bells" and the "Vesper Mass" as well as the second Symphony in E minor.

Answer: "The Firebird" and "Petrushka"

Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971) enriched the musical universe with accents of striking novelty, which, of course, intrigued the audience raised in the cult of traditional harmonious music. His early works, belonging to his so called Russian period, show a great consideration of his national folklore.

The three ballets: "The Firebird", "Petrushka", and culminating with "The Rite of Spring" capture the essence of Stravinsky's innovative genius and are considered by some as redefining the genre. The second phase of his career, known as the neo-classical period, marks his "return" to the style of the classics.

The most important works from this period are the symphonies "Symphony of Psalms", "Symphony in Three Movements", the opera "The Rake's Progress", the Latin opera-oratorio "Oedipus Rex" and "Pulcinella", a work for wind instruments.

In his late years, Stravinsky redefined his style once more, works like "Cantata", "The Flood" or "Agon" showing a clear influence of the twelve-tone technique invented by Arnold Schoenberg.

Answer: The Love of Three Oranges

Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953) brought us the revelation of a rhythmic and melodic invention of amazing vivacity, joy and freshness. He belongs, like Stravinsky, to the pleiad of Russian musicians who fled the country after the Russian Revolution. They were promoted in Europe by fellow countryman Serge de Diaghilev, who found a way to reveal the genius of the Russian nation a long way from home. Still, unlike most of these "exiled" Russian composers, Prokofiev long for home and eventually returned to the Soviet Union, willing to endure the dispositions and censorship of the Communist regime. Prokofiev's list of works is impressive and just to mention some of his best: the opera "Love for Three Oranges", the ballets "Romeo and Juliet" and "Cinderella", the five Piano Concertos, the two Violin Concertos, his first Symphony - the "Classical" (it is very often performed worldwide), the "Scythe Suite", the "Sinfonietta", the grandiose "Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution", the very popular "Peter and the Wolf" for narrator and orchestra (a pedagogic work which familiarize children with the instruments of the orchestra), the two film scores for "Alexander Nevsky" and "Ivan the Terrible", the "Ballade of an Unknown Boy", the symphonic suite "On the Dnieper" and the list can go on.

Answer: Shostakovitch

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a pianist and composer. His artistic career was marked by the constant struggle with the the oppressive political regime, being denunciated and then rehabilitated several times by the Soviet officials. His most important compositions are his fifteen symphonies (out of which the Fifth, the Ninth and the Tenth are the most performed), the fifteen String Quartets (the Eight, which is by far one of his best compositions, was written shortly after two traumatic events occurred in his life: his diagnosis with myelitis, and his joining the Communist Party), the early opera "The Nose" (based on Gogol), the opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", the coral setting "The Execution of Stepan Razin" and the ingenious set of "Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues".

Thank you for playing the quiz. I hope you've enjoyed it and found some interesting things about the exceptional Russian composers.