Famous Russian composers. List of classical composers

One of the main directions of art, which remains a miracle modern world, capable of influencing the emotional state and mood of a person - music. It came to us through the centuries and began its formation in the period of creation classical works. It was the composers of that time who gave impetus to its development and became the founders of various forms and types of works of the classical direction:

• Libretto.
• Symphony.
• Opera.
• Overture.

It was to these composers that the ability to express feelings through notes came. Their music allows modern man plunge into the world of emotions of people who lived centuries ago. It teaches not only to listen to the melody and sounds, but also to imagine, visualize the emerging images, without which the development of the personality is impossible. Not all of them received recognition during their lifetime, but their work was in demand among their descendants, which continues to this day. The works become immortal and pass from generation to generation, making you think about the eternal and imbued with the emotions of that time.

Buy works of classical music composers on CD

Classical music has been born for centuries and it is not entirely correct to compare its creators from different centuries, but still the brightest and most talented representatives stand out who have surpassed their contemporaries in their skill. With their creations, you can start your acquaintance with the fundamental direction. A large number of composers classical music included in the list of founders and prominent spokesmen. These are both foreign and domestic representatives.

Our catalog contains the most full list famous creators with all their works, which can be bought on CD. The assortment of the online store can also satisfy the demand of those who want to get to know more deeply the composers of classical music, or who already have favorite composers whose names are not so familiar. a wide range of people. The alphabetical index allows you to find the names of less famous authors. The most sophisticated music lovers - adherents of the classical direction - will find the necessary works in the catalog of the company "CD as a gift".

Classical music is nowhere near as popular today as it was in its golden age from the 17th century to the early 20th century, but it is still impressive and an inspiration to many. Known musical composers who created these great works may have lived hundreds of years ago, but their masterpieces still remain unsurpassed.

Notable German composers

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most important names in the history of classical music. He was an innovator of his era, expanding the scope of the symphony, sonata, concerto, quartet, and combining vocals and instruments in new ways, although vocal genre he wasn't that interested. The public did not immediately accept his innovative ideas, but fame did not take too long to wait, so even during the life of Beethoven, his work was duly appreciated.

Beethoven's whole life was marked by a struggle for healthy hearing, but deafness still overtook him: some of major works the great composer were created during the last ten years of his life, when he was no longer able to hear. Some of the most famous works of Beethoven are "Moonlight Sonata" (No. 14), the play "For Elise", Symphony No. 9, Symphony No. 5.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Another world famous German composer is Johann Sebastian Bach - a brilliant author, whose works in the 19th century aroused interest even among those who were not interested in serious, classical music. He wrote and organ music, and vocal-instrumental, and music for other instruments and instrumental ensembles, although opera genre he still managed to get around. Most often, he was engaged in writing cantatas, fugues, preludes and oratorios, as well as choral arrangements. It was Bach, along with Georg Friedrich Handel - recent composers the Baroque era.

During his lifetime, he created over a thousand musical works. Most famous works Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, Pastoral BWV 590, Brandenburg Concertos, Peasant and Coffee Cantatas, Matthew Passion mass.

Richard Wagner

Wagner was not only one of the most influential composers in the entire world, but also one of the most controversial - because of his anti-Semitic worldview. He was a supporter new form opera, which he called "musical drama" - in it all the musical and dramatic elements merged together. To this end, he developed a compositional style in which the orchestra plays the same strong dramatic role as well as singer-songwriters.

Wagner himself wrote his own librettos, which he called "poems". Most of Wagner's plots were based on European myths and legends. He is best known for his eighteen-hour cycle of epic operas in four parts called Der Ring des Nibelungen, the opera Tristan und Isolde, and the musical drama Parsifal.

Famous Russian composers

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

Glinka is usually referred to as the founder of the Russian national tradition in music, but his Russian operas offered a synthesis of Western music with Russian melodies. Glinka's first opera was A Life for the Tsar, which was well received at its first production in 1836, but the second opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila, with a libretto written by Pushkin, was not so popular. However, she showed new type dramaturgy - heroic-historical opera, or epic.

Glinka became the first of the Russian composers who achieved world recognition. Most notable works Mikhail Ivanovich: opera "Ivan Susanin", fantasy waltz for symphony orchestra and an overture-symphony on a circular Russian theme.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky is one of the most popular and famous composers in the world. For many, he is also the most beloved Russian composer. Tchaikovsky's work, however, is much more Western than the works written by other composers of his contemporaries, as he used both folk Russian melodies and was guided by the legacy of German and Austrian composers. Tchaikovsky himself was not only a composer, but also a conductor, music teacher and critic.

No others famous composers Russia, perhaps, is not famous for creating ballet productions in the way that Tchaikovsky is famous for. by the most famous ballets Tchaikovsky's are: "The Nutcracker", " Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. He also wrote operas; the most famous - " Queen of Spades", "Eugene Onegin".

Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov

The work of Sergei Vasilyevich absorbed the traditions of post-romanticism and took shape in a unique style in the musical culture of the 20th century, unlike any other in the world. He always gravitated towards the big ones. musical forms. Basically, his works are full of melancholy, drama, strength and rebellion; they often displayed images of the folk epic.

Rachmaninov was known not only as a composer, but also as a pianist, therefore significant place in his work occupy precisely piano works. he started at the age of four. Rachmaninov's defining genre was the piano concerto and orchestra. Rachmaninoff's most famous works are the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and four concertos for piano and orchestra.

Famous composers of the world

Giuseppe Francesco Verdi

It is difficult to imagine the 19th century without the music of Giuseppe Verdi, one of the classics of the Italian musical culture. Most of all, Verdi strove to bring musical realism to the opera production, he always worked directly with singers and librettists, interfered in the work of conductors and did not tolerate false performance. He said that he liked everything that was beautiful in art.

Like many composers, Verdi gained the greatest popularity thanks to the creation of operas. The most famous among them are the operas Othello, Aida, Rigoletto.

Frederic Chopin

The most famous Polish composer, Frederic Chopin, always illuminated in his works the beauty of his native land and believed in its greatness in the future. His name is the pride of the Polish people. Chopin stands out in the field of classical music in that he wrote works only for piano performance than others. famous composers with their variety of symphonies and operas; now Chopin's works have become the basis for the work of today's pianists.

Chopin wrote piano pieces, nocturnes, mazurkas, etudes, waltzes, polonaises and other forms, and the most famous among them are the "Autumn Waltz", Nocturne in C sharp minor, Spring Rhapsody, Fantasia-impromptu in C sharp minor.

Edvard Grieg

The famous Norwegian composer and musical figure Edvard Grieg specialized in chamber vocal and piano music. Grieg's work was tangibly influenced by the legacy of German romanticism. Grieg's bright and recognizable style can be characterized by such a direction as musical impressionism.

Often, when creating his works, Grieg was inspired by folk tales, melodies, legends. His work had a huge impact on the development of Norwegian musical culture and art in general. The most famous works of the composer are the overture "In Autumn", the concerto for piano and orchestra of 1868, the music for the play "Peer Gynt", the suite "From the time of Holberg".

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

And, of course, the most famous composers of all time cannot do without this name, which even people who are far from classical music know. Austrian composer and a virtuoso performer, Mozart created a number of operas, concertos, sonatas and symphonies that had a huge impact on classical music and, in fact, shaped it.

He grew up as a child prodigy: he learned to play the piano at the age of three, and at five he was already creating small pieces of musical works. The first symphony was written by him at the age of eight, the first opera at the age of twelve. Mozart had a phenomenal and amazing ability to play many musical instruments and improvisation.

During his life, Mozart created more than six hundred musical works, some of the most famous among which are the opera Le Nozze di Figaro, the symphony No. 41 Jupiter, the 3rd part of the sonata No. 11 Turkish March, the concerto for flute and harp with orchestra and "Requiem" in D minor, K.626.

The Russian school of composers, whose traditions were continued by the Soviet and today's Russian schools, began in the 19th century with composers who united the European musical art with Russian folk melodies, linking together the European form and the Russian spirit.

About each of these famous people you can tell a lot, everyone is not simple, and sometimes tragic fates, but in this review we tried to give only brief description life and works of composers.

1. Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

(1804-1857)

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka while composing the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. 1887, artist Ilya Efimovich Repin

“In order to create beauty, one must be pure in soul.”

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka is the founder of Russian classical music and the first domestic classical composer to achieve world fame. His works, based on the centuries-old traditions of Russian folk music, were a new word in the musical art of our country.

Born in the Smolensk province, educated in St. Petersburg. The formation of the worldview and the main idea of ​​​​Mikhail Glinka's work was facilitated by direct communication with such personalities as A.S. Pushkin, V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Griboyedov, A.A. Delvig. The creative impetus to his work was added by a long-term trip to Europe in the early 1830s and meetings with the leading composers of the time - V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, F. Mendelssohn and later with G. Berlioz, J. Meyerbeer.

Success came to M.I. Glinka in 1836, after staging the opera "Ivan Susanin" ("Life for the Tsar"), which was enthusiastically received by everyone, for the first time in world music, Russian choral art and European symphonic and opera practice, as well as a hero similar to Susanin, whose image generalizes best features national character.

V.F. Odoevsky described the opera as “a new element in Art, and begins in its history new period- the period of Russian music.

The second opera, the epic Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842), which was worked on against the backdrop of Pushkin's death and in the difficult living conditions of the composer, due to the profoundly innovative nature of the work, was ambiguously received by the audience and the authorities, and brought M.I. Glinka heavy experiences. After that, he traveled a lot, living alternately in Russia and abroad, without stopping composing. Romances, symphonic and chamber works remained in his legacy. In the 1990s, Mikhail Glinka's "Patriotic Song" was the official anthem of the Russian Federation.

Quote about M.I. Glinka:“The entire Russian symphonic school, like the whole oak in an acorn, is contained in the symphonic fantasy “Kamarinskaya”. P.I. Tchaikovsky

Interesting fact: Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was not distinguished by good health, despite this he was very easy-going and knew geography very well, perhaps if he had not become a composer, he would have become a traveler. He knew six foreign languages, including Persian.

2. Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin

(1833-1887)

Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin, one of the leading Russian composers of the second half of the 19th century, in addition to his talent as a composer, was a chemist, doctor, teacher, critic and had a literary talent.

Born in St. Petersburg, since childhood, everyone around him noted his unusual activity, enthusiasm and abilities in various directions, primarily in music and chemistry.

A.P. Borodin is a Russian nugget composer, he did not have professional musician teachers, all his achievements in music are due to independent work mastering the technique of composing.

The formation of A.P. Borodin was influenced by the work of M.I. Glinka (as well as all Russian composers of the 19th century), and two events gave the impetus to dense occupation of composition in the early 1860s - firstly, the acquaintance and marriage with the talented pianist E.S. Protopopova, and secondly, the meeting with M.A. Balakirev and joining the creative community of Russian composers, known as the "Mighty Handful".

In the late 1870s and 1880s, A.P. Borodin traveled and toured extensively in Europe and America, met with the leading composers of his time, his fame grew, he became one of the most famous and popular Russian composers in Europe at the end of the 19th century. th century.

The central place in the work of A.P. Borodin is occupied by the opera "Prince Igor" (1869-1890), which is an example of national heroic epic in music and which he himself did not have time to finish (it was completed by his friends A.A. Glazunov and N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov). In "Prince Igor", against the backdrop of majestic paintings historical events, reflected the main idea of all the composer's work - courage, calm grandeur, spiritual nobility of the best Russian people and the mighty strength of the entire Russian people, manifested in the defense of the motherland.

Despite the fact that A.P. Borodin left a relatively small number of works, his work is very diverse and he is considered one of the fathers of Russian symphonic music who influenced many generations of Russian and foreign composers.

Quote about A.P. Borodin:“Borodin's talent is equally powerful and amazing both in the symphony, and in the opera and in the romance. Its main qualities are gigantic strength and breadth, colossal scope, swiftness and impetuosity, combined with amazing passion, tenderness and beauty. V.V. Stasov

Interesting fact: named after Borodin chemical reaction silver salts of carboxylic acids with halogens, resulting in halogenated hydrocarbons, which he first investigated in 1861.

3. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

(1839-1881)

“The sounds of human speech, as external manifestations of thought and feeling, must, without exaggeration and rape, become truthful, accurate music, but artistic, highly artistic.”

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky is one of the most brilliant Russian composers of the 19th century, a member of the mighty handful». innovative creativity Mussorgsky was far ahead of his time.

Born in the Pskov province. How many talented people, from childhood showed ability in music, studied in St. Petersburg, was, according to family tradition, military. The decisive event that determined that Mussorgsky was not born for military service, and for music, was his meeting with M.A. Balakirev and joining the "Mighty Handful".

Mussorgsky is great because in his grandiose works - the operas "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" captured dramatic milestones in music Russian history with a radical novelty that Russian music did not know before, showing in them a combination of mass folk scenes and a diverse wealth of types, the unique character of the Russian people. These operas, in numerous editions by both the author and other composers, are among the most popular Russian operas in the world.

Another outstanding work of Mussorgsky is the cycle of piano pieces "Pictures at an Exhibition", colorful and inventive miniatures are permeated with the Russian refrain theme and the Orthodox faith.

There was everything in Mussorgsky's life - both greatness and tragedy, but he was always distinguished by genuine spiritual purity and disinterestedness.

His last years were difficult - life's disorder, non-recognition of creativity, loneliness, addiction to alcohol, all this determined his early death at 42, he left relatively few compositions, some of which were completed by other composers.

The specific melody and innovative harmony of Mussorgsky anticipated some features musical development 20th century and played an important role in the development of the styles of many world composers.

Quote about M.P. Mussorgsky:“Originally Russian sounds in everything that Mussorgsky did” N. K. Roerich

Interesting fact: At the end of his life, Mussorgsky, under pressure from his "friends" Stasov and Rimsky-Korsakov, renounced the copyright to his works and presented them to Tertiy Filippov.

4. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

(1840-1893)

“I am an artist who can and must bring honor to his Motherland. I feel a great artistic power in myself, I have not yet done even a tenth of what I can do. And I want to do it with all the strength of my soul.”

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, perhaps the greatest Russian composer of the 19th century, raised Russian musical art to unprecedented heights. He is one of the most important composers of world classical music.

native Vyatka province, although paternal roots in Ukraine, Tchaikovsky from childhood showed musical ability However, the first education and work was in the field of jurisprudence.

Tchaikovsky is one of the first Russian "professional" composers - he studied music theory and composition at the new St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Tchaikovsky was considered a "Western" composer, in contrast to the folk figures of the "Mighty Handful", with whom he had good creative and friendly relations, however, his work is no less imbued with the Russian spirit, he managed to uniquely combine the Western symphonic heritage of Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann with Russian traditions inherited from Mikhail Glinka.

The composer led active life- was a teacher, conductor, critic, public figure, worked in two capitals, toured Europe and America.

Tchaikovsky was a rather emotionally unstable person, enthusiasm, despondency, apathy, irascibility, violent anger - all these moods changed in him quite often, being a very sociable person, he always strove for loneliness.

It is a difficult task to single out something best from Tchaikovsky's work, he has several works of equal size in almost all musical genres- opera, ballet, symphony, chamber music. And the content of Tchaikovsky's music is universal: with inimitable melodism, it embraces the images of life and death, love, nature, childhood, works of Russian and world literature are revealed in a new way, deep processes of spiritual life are reflected in it.

Composer quote:“Life has charm only when it consists of the alternation of joys and sorrows, of the struggle between good and evil, of light and shadow, in a word, of diversity in unity.”

"Great talent requires great hard work."

Composer quote: “I am ready day and night to stand as a guard of honor at the porch of the house where Pyotr Ilyich lives - to such an extent I respect him” A.P. Chekhov

Interesting fact: Cambridge University in absentia and without defending a dissertation awarded Tchaikovsky the title of Doctor of Music, as well as the Paris Academy fine arts elected him as a corresponding member.

5. Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov

(1844-1908)

N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A.K. Glazunov with their students M.M. Chernov and V.A. Senilov. Photo 1906

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov is a talented Russian composer, one of the most important figures in the creation of an invaluable domestic musical heritage. His peculiar world and worship of the eternal all-encompassing beauty of the universe, admiration for the miracle of being, unity with nature have no analogues in the history of music.

Born in the Novgorod province, according to family tradition, he became a naval officer, on a warship he traveled around many countries in Europe and two Americas. Musical education received first from his mother, then taking private lessons from the pianist F. Canille. And again, thanks to M.A. Balakirev, the organizer of the Mighty Handful, who introduced Rimsky-Korsakov into the musical community and influenced his work, the world did not lose the talented composer.

The central place in Rimsky-Korsakov's legacy is occupied by operas - 15 works demonstrating the diversity of genre, stylistic, dramatic, and compositional decisions of the composer, nevertheless having a special style - with all the richness of the orchestral component, melodic vocal lines are the main ones.

Two main directions distinguish the composer's work: the first is Russian history, the second is the world of fairy tales and epic, for which he received the nickname "storyteller".

In addition to direct independent creative activity N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov is known as a publicist, compiler of collections folk songs, in which he showed great interest, and also as the finalist of the works of his friends - Dargomyzhsky, Mussorgsky and Borodin. Rimsky-Korsakov was the founder composer school, as a teacher and head of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he produced about two hundred composers, conductors, musicologists, among them Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

Composer quote:“Rimsky-Korsakov was a very Russian man and a very Russian composer. I believe that this primordially Russian essence of his, his deep folklore-Russian basis, should be especially appreciated today. Mstislav Rostropovich

Fact about the composer: Nikolai Andreevich began his first lesson in counterpoint like this:

Now I will talk a lot, and you will listen very carefully. Then I will speak less, and you will listen and think, and, finally, I will not speak at all, and you will think with your own head and work independently, because my task as a teacher is to become unnecessary to you ...

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So, in the center of our attention today are the most famous classical pieces of music. Classical music has been exciting its listeners for several centuries, causing them a storm of feelings and emotions. It has long become a part of history and is intertwined with the present with thin threads.

Undoubtedly, in the distant future, classical music will be no less in demand, since a similar phenomenon in music world cannot lose its relevance and significance.

Name any classical work - it will be worthy of the first place in any musical hit parade. But since it is not possible to compare the most famous classical musical works among themselves, due to their artistic uniqueness, the opuses named here are presented only as works for acquaintance.

"Moonlight Sonata"

Ludwig van Beethoven

In the summer of 1801 saw the light work of genius L.B. Beethoven, who was destined to become famous all over the world. The title of this work, Moonlight Sonata, is known to absolutely everyone, from old to young.

But initially, the work had the name "Almost Fantasy", which the author dedicated to his young student, beloved Juliet Guicciardi. And the name by which it is known to this day, came up with musical critic and the poet Ludwig Relshtab after the death of L.V. Beethoven. This work belongs to one of the most famous musical works of the composer.

By the way, an excellent collection of classical music is the publication of the newspaper “ TVNZ” - compact books with discs for listening to music. You can read about and listen to his music - very convenient! Recommended order discs from classical music directly from our page : press the “buy” button and immediately go to the store.

"Turkish March"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This work is the third movement of Sonata No. 11, it was born in 1783. Initially, it was called "Turkish Rondo" and was very popular among Austrian musicians, who later renamed it. The name "Turkish March" was assigned to the work also because it is consonant with Turkish Janissary orchestras, for which the sound of percussion is very characteristic, which can also be traced in the "Turkish March" by V.A. Mozart.

"Ave Maria"

Franz Schubert

The composer himself wrote this work to the poem "The Lady of the Lake" by W. Scott, or rather to its passage, and was not going to write such a deeply religious composition for the Church. Some time after the appearance of the work, no one famous musician, inspired by the prayer "Ave Maria", set its text to the music of the brilliant F. Schubert.

"Fantasy Impromptu"

Frederic Chopin

F. Chopin, the genius of the period of romanticism, dedicated this work to his friend. And it was he, Julian Fontana, who disobeyed the author's instructions and published it in 1855, six years after the composer's death. F. Chopin believed that his work is similar to the impromptu I. Moscheles, a student of Beethoven, famous composer and a pianist, which was the reason for the refusal to publish "Fantasy-Impromptu". However, no one has ever considered this brilliant work to be plagiarism, except for the author himself.

"Flight of the Bumblebee"

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Composer this work was a fan of Russian folklore - he was interested in fairy tales. This led to the creation of the opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" based on the plot of A.S. Pushkin. Part of this opera is the interlude "Flight of the Bumblebee". Masterfully, incredibly vividly and brilliantly imitated in the work the sounds of the flight of this insect N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

"Caprice No. 24"

Niccolo Paganini

Initially, the author composed all his caprices solely for the purpose of improving and honing the skill of playing the violin. Ultimately, they brought to violin music a lot of new and unknown before. And the 24th caprice, the last of N. Paganini's composed caprices, carries a swift tarantella with folk intonations, and is also recognized as one of the works ever created for the violin, which has no equal in complexity.

"Vocalise, opus 34, no. 14"

Sergei Vasilyevich Rahmaninov

This work completes the composer's 34th opus, which combines fourteen songs written for voice with piano accompaniment. Vocalise, as expected, does not contain words, but is performed on one vowel sound. S.V. Rachmaninov dedicated it to Antonina Nezhdanova - opera singer. Very often this work is performed on the violin or cello, accompanied by piano accompaniment.

"Moonlight"

Claude Debussy

This work was written by the composer under the impression of the lines of a poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine. The name very clearly conveys the softness and touchingness of the melody, which affects the soul of the listener. In 120 films of different generations, this sounds popular work brilliant composer C. Debussy.

As always, The best music- in our group in contact .

1. "Symphony No. 5", Ludwig van Beethoven

According to legend, Beethoven (1770-1827) could not come up with an introduction to Symphony No. 5 for a long time. But when he lay down to take a nap, he heard a knock on the door, and the rhythm of this knock became an introduction to this work. Interestingly, the first notes of the symphony correspond to the number 5, or V in Morse code.

2. O Fortuna, Carl Orff

Composer Carl Orff (1895-1982) is best known for this dramatic vocal cantata. It is based on the 13th century poem "Carmina Burana". It is one of the most frequently performed classical pieces around the world.

3. Hallelujah Chorus, Georg Friedrich Handel

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) wrote the oratorio Messiah in 24 days. Many melodies, including "Hallelujah", were later borrowed from this work and began to be performed as independent works. According to legend, Handel had music in his head played by angels. The text of the oratorio is based on biblical stories, Handel reflected the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

4. Ride of the Valkyries, Richard Wagner

This composition is taken from the opera "Valkyrie", which is part of the series of operas "Ring of the Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner (1813-1883). The opera "Valkyrie" is dedicated to the daughter of the god Odin. Wagner spent 26 years composing this opera, and this is only the second part of a grandiose masterpiece of four operas.

5. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Johann Sebastian Bach

This is probably the most famous work Bach (1685-1750), it is often used in films during dramatic scenes.

6. Little Night Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart