Russian Music / Русская музыка

Explore Russian music through its traditional folk instruments, famous composers, operas, Eurovision participation, and more!
Traditional Instruments
Balalaika
The balalaika is one of the most well-known and widely recognizable Russian instruments.
Domra
The Domra is a Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian stringed instrument of the lute family with 3 or 4 strings.
Garmon / Bayan
The garmon or garmoshka is a button accordion. The more modern Russian accordion is called the bayan.
Lozhki
Spoons aren't just for eating in Russia! They have been a percussion instrument since at least the 18th century.
Svistulka
The svistulka is small animal-shaped whistle usually made of clay.
Russia at Eurovision
Russia completed in the song contest annually since the contest began in 1994. In 2022, Russia was excluded from the competition following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia has won second place in the competition four times and placed third four times.
Second Place:
Alsou, "Solo," 2000.
Dima Bilan, "Never Let You Go," 2006.
Burnovskiye Babushki, "Party for Everybody," 2012.
Polina Gagarina, "A Million Voices," 2015.
Third Place:
t.A.T.u, "Не верь, не бойся," 2003
Serebro, "Song #1," 2007.
Sergey Lazarev, "You Are the Only One," 2016.
Sergey Lazerev, "Scream," 2019.
Russian Classical Music
Some of the world's most famous works of classical music come from Russian composers.
For the sake of space, there are only ten composers featured below. For each composer below you'll find a list of some of their most famous works including film scores, symphonic compositions, ballets, and operas. These lists are in no way exhaustive, and we encourage you to explore more of their music.
Check out the KU CREES Spotify playlists below:
Alexander Borodin 1833–1887

Borodin's grave at Tikhvin Cemetery in St. Petersburg musical notation is themes from "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" from Polovtsian Dances; "Song of the Dark Forest"; and the "Scherzo" theme from Symphony No. 3. Photo by Dolly442 Wikimedia Commons.

Portrait of Borodin by Ilya Repin, 1888. Wikimedia Commons.

A scene from Act II of Borodin's opera Prince Igor. Wikimedia Commons.
Alexander Borodin (1833–1887)
Borodin
In the Steppes of Central Asia (В Средней Азии), 1880. Symphonic poem dedicated to composer Franz Litsz.
String Quartet No. 1 in A Major, 1874-79.
Symphony No. 1 in E Flat Major, 1875.
Symphony No. 2 in B Minor, 1869-76.
Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, 1887.
Prince Igor (Князь Игорь), 1890
Borodin adapted the libretto from the 12th century epic The Lay of Igor's Campaign (Слово о пълкѹ Игоревѣ). He wrote one other complete opera and two unfinished operas that were never performed.
Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857)
Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857)

Portrait of Glinka by Ilya Repin. Wikimedia Commons

1905 costume design for the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila by Ivan Bilibin. Wikimedia Commons

Photograph of Glinka from 1856. Wikimedia Commons.
Glinka
A Night in Madrid, 1848
Jota Aragonesa, 1845.
Kamarinskaya (камаринская), 1848.
Patriotic Song (Патриотическая песня), 1833. This piano composition served as the basis for Russia's national anthem from 1991 to 2000.
A Life for the Tsar (Жизнь за царя), 1836.
Ruslan and Lyudmila (Руслан и Людмила), 1837-42. Based on the tale by Aleksandr Pushkin.
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Portrait of Mussorgsky by Ilya Repin. March of 1881, painted days before Mussorgsky's death. Wikimedia Commons

Modest Mussorgsky, 1870. Wikimedia Commons.

Program design by Ivan Bilibin for the Sergey Dyagilev 1908 production of Boris Godunov in Paris. Wikimedia Commons.
Mussorgsky
Night on Bald Mountain (Ночь на лысой горе), 1867.
Pictures at an Exhibition (Картинки с выставки), 1874.
Songs and Dances of Death (Песни и пляски смерти), 1875.
Boris Godunov (Борис Гондунов), 1873.
Khovanshchina (Хованщина), 1880.
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Photo of Sergei Prokofiev circa 1918. Wikimedia Commons.

1921 drawing of Prokofiev by French artist Henri Matisse. Wikimedia Commons.

Disney's 1946 film of Peter and the Wolf. Photo by The Walt Disney Company - IMDB: Peter and the Wolf (1946), Fair use, Wikimedia Commons.
Prokofiev's major works
Peter and the Wolf (Петя и волк), 1936
Piano Concerto No. 3, 1917-21
Symphony No. 1, 1916-17
Symphony No. 5, 1944
Violin Concerto No. 2, 1935
War Sonatas for Piano, 1939-44
Prokofiev wrote 9 ballets and 14 operas in his lifetime. Below are simply the most well-known.
Ballet
Cinderella, 1944
Romeo and Juliet, 1935
Opera
The Love for Three Oranges (L'amour des trois oranges), 1921
Prokofiev wrote the libretto for this opera in French. He based the work on the Italian opera of the same name. It debuted in Chicago in 1921 with Prokofiev himself conducting. The director of the Chicago Opera commissioned an opera from Prokofiev following his first visit to the United States in 1918.
War and Peace (Война и мир), 1941-52.
The opera is based on Leo Tolstoy's novel of the same name. Mira Mendelson wrote the libretto (Russian) for the opera. The opera is divided into thirteen scenes, the first seven devoted to peace and the last six to war.
Aleksandr Nevsky (Александр Невский), 1938. Film directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
Ivan the Terrible (Иван Грозный), 19. Two films, Ivan the Terrible Part 1 (1945) and Ivan the Terrible Part 2 (1958) both directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
Lieutenant Kijé, (Поручик Киже),1934. Prokofiev's first commission and first attempt at composing music for film.
Queen of Spades (Пиковая Дама), 1936. The film was planned but never released.
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Monument to Rachmaninoff in Velikii Novgorod. Adobe Stock Education License.

According to History of Music, a regular person can usually reach 8 or 9 notes (black), a professional pianist 10 or 11 (blue). "Rachmaninoff could easily reach 13 (red), while also playing notes in-between with his 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers."

Rachmaninoff playing the piano. Wikimedia Commons
Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 1, 1891 (revised 1917).
Piano Concerto No. 2, 1901.
Piano Concerto No. 3, 1909.
Piano Concerto No. 4, 1926 (revised 1941).
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 1934.
Symphonic Dances, 1940.
Symphony No. 1, 1895.
Symphony No. 2, 1908.
Symphony No. 3, 1936.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)

Portrait of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov by Valentin Serov (1898). Wikimedia Commons

Leon Baskt's set design for the Balet Rus production of "Scheherazade" 1917. Wikimedia Commons.

Photograph of Rimsky-Korsakov. Wikimedia Commons.
Rimsky-Korsakov
Capriccio Espagnol, 1887.
Russian Easter Festival Overture (Светлый праздник), 1888.
Scheherazade, 1888.
Symphony No. 2 Antar, 1868.
Trombone Concerto, 1877.
The Golden Cockrel (Золотой петушок), 1907.
Sadko(Садко), 1896.
The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Сказка о царе Салтане), 1900.
Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)
Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915)

Photograph of Scriabin. Wikimedia Commons.

Corresponding colors for Scriabin's light organ created for "Promethius." Wikimedia Commons.

Keys arranged in a circle of fifths in order to depict the relationship with the visible spectrum in Scriabin's synesthesia. Wikimedia Commons
Scriabin
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Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)

Bronze statue of Dmitri Shostakovich in Samara, Russia. Adobe Stock Educational License.

Dmitri Shostakovich. Wikimedia Commons.

Dmitri Shostakovich on the cover of Time Magazine in 1942. Wikimedia Commons.
Shostakovich
Cello Concerto No, 1 in E Flat Major, 1959
The Gadfly Suite, 1955.
Piano Quintet in G Minor, 1940.
Sonata for Viola and Piano, 1975.
String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, 1960.
String Quartet No. 12, 1968
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, 1937.
Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, 1953.
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Леди Макбет Мценского уезда), 1934. Based on the 1865 novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov.
The Nose (Нос), 1928. Based on the 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol.
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Igor Stravinsky. Wikimedia Commons

Igor Stravinsky received a star on Hollywood Boulevard in 1960. He is the only classical composer to have a star on the iconic street. Photo through Adobe Education License.

Igor Stravinsky on the cover of Time Magazine in 1948. Wikimedia Commons
Stravinsky
Agon (Агон), 1954-57 ballet.
Apollo (Аполлон), 1928 ballet
The Firebird (Жар-птица), 1910 ballet.
Oedipus Rex (Царь Эдип), 1927 opera.
Petrushka (Петрушка), 1911 ballet.
The Rake’s Progress (Похождение повесы), 1947-51 opera.
The Rite of Spring (Весна священная), 1913 ballet.
Petr Ilych Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Petr Ilych Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Monument to composer Tchaikovsky in the town of Klin, Russia. Adobe Stock Education License.

Photograph of Tchaikovsky. Wikimedia Commons

A set of stamps from 1992 in honor of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker
Tchaikovsky's major works
1812 Overture, 1880
Piano Concerto No. 1, 1875
Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, 1870
Symphony No. 5, 1888
Symphony No. 6, 'Pathétique’, 1893
Violin Concerto, 1878
Tchaikovsky composed 10 operas in his lifetime. Both of his two most famous operas are based on works by Russian author Aleksandr Pushkin:
Russian Music Activities
Russian Musical Instruments Word Search Puzzle (printable version here)
Russian Musical Instruments Crossword Puzzle (printable version here)
All images on its page are licensed through Adobe Stock, Canva, and Wikimedia Commons