Chronological list of Russian classical composers
Encyclopedia
The following is a chronological list of classical music
composers who live in, work in, or are citizens of Russia
, or who have done so.
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
composers who live in, work in, or are citizens of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, or who have done so.
Baroque
- Nikolay DiletskyNikolay DiletskyNikolay Diletsky was a theorist and composer of Ukrainian nationality, active in Russia. He was widely influential in late 17th-century Russia with his treatise on composition, A Musical Grammar, first survived version of which dated 1677. Diletsky's followers included Vasily Titov.-Life:Little...
(c. 1630 – after 1680) - Vasily Polikarpovich TitovVasily Polikarpovich TitovVasily Polikarpovich Titov was a Russian composer, one of the foremost exponents of the so-called Moscow Baroque. Although Titov's works are not widely known today, he was famous during his lifetime, and his importance was acknowledged in Russia by both pre-revolutionary and Soviet...
(c. 1650 – c. 1715)
Classical era
- Yekaterina SinyavinaYekaterina SinyavinaYekaterina Alexeyevna Sinyavina was a Russian composer and pianist. A cembalo concerto by Giovanni Paisiello was probably first performed at the court of Catherine II in 1781 with Sinyavina as soloist. She served as a lady-in-waiting and composer at the court, married Count Simon Romanovich...
(died 1784) - Maksim Berezovsky (c. 1745–1777)
- Marija Zubova (1749–1799)
- Dmitry Bortniansky (1751–1825)
Romantic
- Katerina MaierKaterina MaierKaterina Maier-Schiatti was a Russian composer, the daughter of violinist and composer Luigi Schiatti who lived in Russia from 1760 and played in the court orchestra. She published a set of three piano sonatas dedicated to Count Platon Zubov in St. Petersburg and a piano concerto in London around...
(fl. c. 1800) - Ekaterina LikoshinEkaterina LikoshinEkaterina Likoshin was a Russian pianist and composer who published short works for keyboard in St. Petersburg through publisher F.A. Dittmar. She is thought to have been employed by Count Uvarov.-Works:Selected works include:...
(fl. 1800–1810) - Mikhail GlinkaMikhail GlinkaMikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
(1804–1857) - Alexander DargomyzhskyAlexander DargomyzhskyAlexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky was a 19th century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between Mikhail Glinka and the later generation of The Five and Tchaikovsky....
(1813–1869) - Anton RubinsteinAnton RubinsteinAnton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
(1829–1894) - Alexander BorodinAlexander BorodinAlexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
(1833–1887) - César CuiCésar CuiCésar Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...
(1835–1918) - Mily BalakirevMily BalakirevMily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...
(1837–1910) - Modest MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
(1839–1881) - Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
(1840–1893) - Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
(1844–1908) - Alexander ArkhangelskyAlexander Andreyevich ArkhangelskyAlexander Andreyevich Arkhangelsky was a Russian composer of church music and conductor.-External links:* Mutopia Project...
(1846–1924) - Alexander TaneyevAlexander TaneyevAlexander Sergeyevich Taneyev was a Russian composer of the late Romantic era, specifically of the nationalist school. Among his best works were three string quartets, believed to have been composed between 1898–1900....
(1850–1918) - Alexander KopylovAlexander KopylovAlexander Alexandrovich Kopylov or Kopilov was a Russian composer and violinist....
(1854–1911) - Anatoly Lyadov (1855–1914)
- Sergei TaneyevSergei TaneyevSergei Ivanovich Taneyev , was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author.-Life:...
(1856–1915) - Alexander IlyinskyAlexander IlyinskyAlexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky was a Russian music teacher and composer, best known for the Lullaby , Op. 13, No. 7, from his orchestral suite "Noure and Anitra", and for the opera The Fountain of Bakhchisaray set to Pushkin's poem of the same name.Alexander Ilyinsky was born in Tsarskoye Selo...
(1859–1919) - Nikolay Sokolov (1859–1922)
- Sergei LyapunovSergei LyapunovSergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov was a Russian composer and pianist.-Life:Lyapunov was born in Yaroslavl in 1859. After the death of his father, Mikhail Lyapunov, when he was about eight, Sergei, his mother, and his two brothers went to live in the larger town of Nizhny Novgorod...
(1859–1924) - Mikhail Ippolitov-IvanovMikhail Ippolitov-IvanovMikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
(1859–1935) - Victor EwaldVictor Ewald-Biography:Victor Ewald , was a Russian composer of music, mainly for conical brass instruments.He was born in Saint Petersburg and died in Leningrad. Ewald was a professor of Civil Engineering in St. Petersburg, and was also the cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet for sixteen years. This was the...
(1860–1935) - Anton ArenskyAnton ArenskyAnton Stepanovich Arensky -Biography:Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine...
(1861–1906) - Alexander GretchaninovAlexander GretchaninovAlexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov was a Russian Romantic composer.-His life:Gretchaninov started his musical studies rather late because his father, a businessman, had expected the boy to take over the family firm...
(1864–1956) - Alexander GlazunovAlexander GlazunovAlexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
(1865–1936) - Vasily KalinnikovVasily KalinnikovVasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov was a Russian composer of two symphonies, several additional orchestral works and numerous songs, all of them imbued with characteristics of folksong...
(1866–1901) - Vladimir RebikovVladimir RebikovVladimir Ivanovich Rebikov was a late romantic 20th century Russian composer and pianist.-Biography:Rebikov began studying the piano with his mother. His sisters also were pianists. He graduated from the Moscow University faculty of philology. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with N....
(1866–1920) - Alexander ScriabinAlexander ScriabinAlexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
(1872–1915) - Sergei RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
(1873–1943) - Reinhold GlièreReinhold GlièreReinhold Moritzevich Glière was a Russian and Soviet composer of German–Polish descent.- Biography :Glière was born in Kiev, Ukraine...
(1875–1956) - Yuliya VeysbergYuliya VeysbergYuliya Veysberg was a Russian composer. She married Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov, musicologist and son of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and served on the editorial board of the first Russian music magazine, Muzïkal'nïy sovremennik, which he founded.Veysberg's compositions included vocal works, a symphony, a...
(b. 1878/1880, d. 1942)
Modern/contemporary
- Pavel Chesnokov (1877–1944)
- Nikolai MedtnerNikolai MedtnerNikolai Karlovich Medtner was a Russian composer and pianist.A younger contemporary of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, he wrote a substantial number of compositions, all of which include the piano...
(1880–1951) - Nikolai MyaskovskyNikolai MyaskovskyNikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of the Soviet symphony".-Early years and first important works:...
(1881–1950) - Igor StravinskyIgor StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
(1882–1971) - Maximilian SteinbergMaximilian SteinbergMaximilian Osseyevich Steinberg was a Russian composer of classical music born in what is now Lithuania.-Life:...
(1883–1946) - Adrian SchaposhnikovAdrian SchaposhnikovAdrian Grigoryevich Shaposhnikov, was a Russian classical music composer, People's Artist of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . His style was similar to Alexander Gretchaninov. The only familiar work of his is the Sonata for Flute and Harp, published by Salvi, originally published in the...
(1888–1967) - Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
(1891–1953) - Nicolai GolovanovNicolai GolovanovNikolai Semyonovich Golovanov , [o.s. 9] 21 January 1891 – 28 August 1953, was a Soviet conductor and composer.He conducted the premiere performances of a number of works, among them Nikolai Myaskovsky's sixth symphony in May 1924, and recorded operas and concert works by Glazunov, Mussorgsky...
(1891–1953) - Alexander AbramskyAlexander AbramskyAlexander Abramsky was a Soviet composer. He was known for his adaptation of Russian folk music within his compositions. He wrote numerous symphonic works, chamber music pieces, and one opera. His best-known work is his piano concerto which premiered in 1941.-References:...
(1898–1985) - Alexander TcherepninAlexander TcherepninAlexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin was a Russian-born composer and pianist. His father, Nikolai Tcherepnin and his son, Ivan Tcherepnin were also composers, as are two of his grandsons, Sergei and Stefan. His son Serge was involved in the roots of electronic music and instruments...
(1899–1977) - Alexander MosolovAlexander MosolovAlexander Vasilyevich MosolovMosolov's name is transliterated variously and inconsistently between sources. Alternative spellings of Alexander include Alexandr, Aleksandr, Aleksander, and Alexandre; variations on Mosolov include Mossolov and Mossolow...
(1900–1973) - Aram KhachaturianAram KhachaturianAram Ilyich Khachaturian was a prominent Soviet composer. Khachaturian's works were often influenced by classical Russian music and Armenian folk music...
(1903-1978) - Dmitri KabalevskyDmitri KabalevskyDmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky was a Russian composer.He helped to set up the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow and remained one of its leading figures. He was a prolific composer of piano music and chamber music; many of his piano works have been performed by Vladimir Horowitz. He is probably...
(1904–1987) - Dmitri ShostakovichDmitri ShostakovichDmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
(1906–1975) - Julian ScriabinJulian ScriabinJulian Scriabin was the son of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin and Tatiana de Schloezer. He was himself a composer and pianist. Considered a prodigy, as a composer Julian wrote a few preludes—two of which were published in Сборник —and showed great promise.His few works are reminiscent of his...
(1908–1919) - Georgy SviridovGeorgy SviridovGeorgy Vasilyevich Sviridov was a Soviet Russian neoromantic composer....
(1915–1998) - Irina ElchevaIrina ElchevaIrina Mikhaylovna Elcheva is a Russian composer. She completed the opera Spartak in 1962.-References:...
(born 1926) - Vladimir ShainskyVladimir ShainskyVladimir Yakovlevich Shainsky is a Soviet and Russian composer.Vladimir Shainsky was born in 1925 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR. In 1936, he became a student at the musical school in Kiev, where he learned to play the violin. However, his studies were interrupted by the German-Soviet War , when...
(born 1925) - Vladimir Vavilov (1925–1973)
- Sofia GubaidulinaSofia GubaidulinaSofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, is a Russian composer of half Russian, half Tatar ethnicity.Gubaidulina's music is marked by the use of unusual instrumental combinations...
(born 1931) - Rodion ShchedrinRodion ShchedrinRodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin is a Russian composer. He was one оf the leading Soviet composers, and was the chairman of the Union of Russian Composers from 1973 until 1990.-Life and Works:...
(born 1932) - Alfred SchnittkeAlfred SchnittkeAlfred Schnittke ; November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet composer. Schnittke's early music shows the strong influence of Dmitri Shostakovich. He developed a polystylistic technique in works such as the epic First Symphony and First Concerto Grosso...
(1934–1998) - Vyacheslav NagovitsinVyacheslav NagovitsinVyacheslav Lavrent'yevich Nagovitsin is a Russian composer born in Magnitogorsk . He was a student of Dmitri Shostakovich at the Leningrad Conservatory that he graduated in 1966 . In 1963-1964 he worked in Ulan-Ude Opera and Ballet Theater...
(born 1939) - Nikolai KapustinNikolai KapustinNikolai Girshevich Kapustin is a Ukrainian Russian composer and pianist....
(born 1937) - Vladimir MartynovVladimir MartynovVladimir Martynov is a Russian composer, born on February 20, 1946 in Moscow, known for his music in the Concerto, Orchestral Music, Chamber Music and Choral Music genres....
(born 1946) - Yury G. ChernavskyYury G. ChernavskyYury Chernavsky is a Russian producer, composer and songwriter. Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation. Member of performance rights organisations such as GEMA, BMI, and RAO.- Education :...
(born 1947) - Yakov KazyanskyYakov KazyanskyYakov Kazyansky is a Russian musician. He has been named an Honoured Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation ....
(born 1948) - Alla PavlovaAlla PavlovaAlla Pavlova is a Russian composer of Ukrainian origin, best known for her symphonic work. Pavlova currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.-Soviet life:...
(born 1952) - Leonid DesyatnikovLeonid DesyatnikovLeonid Arkadievich Desyatnikov is a Russian composer.Leonid Desyatnikov was born in 1955 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He is a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied composition and instrumentation. Desyatnikov has penned four operas, several cantatas and numerous vocal and instrumental...
(born 1955) - Andrei KrylovAndrei Krylov (musician)Andrei Krylov is a Russian 7- and 6- string guitarist, composer and poet. He studied classical guitar, arrangement and composition in St. Petersburg, Russia and is now living in Canada. In the 1980s and 1990s he worked as a guitarist for the Russian State concert company Lenconcert and the Old...
(born 1961) - Evgeni Kostitsyn (born 1963)
- Yuri KhanonYuri KhanonYuri Khanon is a pen name of Yuri Feliksovich Soloviev-Savoyarov , a Russian composer. Prior to 1993, he wrote under a pen name Yuri Khanin, but later transformed it into Yuri Khanon, spelling it in a pre-1918 Russian style as ХанонЪ. Khanon was born on Juny 16, 1965 in Leningrad...
(born 1965) - Lera AuerbachLera AuerbachLera Auerbach is a Russian-born American composer and pianist.-Early life & education:Auerbach was born in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Urals bordering Siberia. She holds degrees in piano and composition from The Juilliard School, where she studied piano with Joseph Kalichstein and composition...
(born 1973) - Dmitry Lubenskiy (born 1979)