Mily Balakirev
Romantic · 1837–1910
Mily Balakirev never went to a conservatory, and at first he made sure the composers around him didn't either. Born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, in 1837 and largely self-taught, he became the leader of the circle of five composers, including Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, who set out in the 1860s to build a Russian music from folk song rather than German schooling.
He was a demanding mentor and a slow finisher of his own work. After a breakdown in the 1870s he withdrew from music for years and took a job as a railway clerk, returning later to complete pieces he had started decades before.
His name survives above all on Islamey, a short piano fantasy on themes from the Caucasus, famous among pianists for its difficulty. Hear that first, then the orchestral piece Tamara, a slow-burning legend of a deadly princess.
53 works in the catalog, across 4 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Expromt, for violin and piano
- Octet for Flute, Oboe, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass and Piano, op. 3
Keyboard
- Islamey: Oriental Fantasy
- Au jardin, étude-idylle in D flat major
- Berceuse in D flat major
- Chant de pêcheur
- Esquisses
- Gondellied
- Impromptu in F minor
- Mazurka no. 1 in A flat major
- Mazurka no. 2 in C sharp minor
- Mazurka no. 3 in B minor
- Mazurka no. 4 in G flat major
- Mazurka no. 5 in D
- Mazurka no. 6 in A flat major
- Mazurka no. 7 in E flat minor
- Nocturne no. 2 in B minor
- Nocturne no. 3 in D minor
- Piano Sonata no. 1 in B flat minor, op. 5
- Piano Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor
- Polka in F sharp minor
- Pustïnya
- Scherzo no. 1 in B minor
- Scherzo no. 2 in B flat minor
- Scherzo no. 3 in F sharp minor
- Suite for Piano, 4-hands
- Tarantella
- Toccata in C sharp minor
- Valse-impromptu no. 3 in D
- Valse di bravura no. 1
- Valse mélancholique no. 2
- Waltz no. 4 in B flat major, "Valse de concert"
- Waltz no. 5
- Waltz no. 6
- Waltz no. 7
Orchestral
- Tamara, symphonic poem
- Grand Fantaisie on Russian Folksongs, for piano and orchestra, op. 4
- In Bohemia
- King Lear
- Overture on a Spanish March Theme
- Piano Concerto no. 1 in F sharp minor, op. 1
- Russia
- Suite on Pieces by Chopin
- Symphony no. 1 in C
- Symphony no. 2 in D minor
Vocal
- 3 Forgotten Songs
- 6 Anthems
- 10 Songs
- 10 Songs
- 20 Songs
- Among Flowers
- Utyos
- Zarya
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