Michail Glinka

Short biography Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka was born on 1 June 1804 in Novospasskoye in the Smolensk Governorate and died on 15 February 1857 in Berlin. He came from a wealthy Russian noble family and received a broad general education in St Petersburg. His musical training included studies with the Irish-Russian composer and pianist John Field, as well as, during an extended stay in Italy (1830–1833), an intensive engagement with the Italian operatic style. To deepen his compositional technique, he subsequently studied in Berlin with the theorist Siegfried Dehn.

Historical placement Glinka is regarded as the founder of Russian national music and as a forerunner of the later Russian school of the nineteenth century. His works combine Western European compositional techniques with Russian folk melodies and idioms, thereby laying the foundation upon which the so-called 'Mighty Handful' would later build. He is associated with Romanticism, yet occupies a distinctive position within that period on account of his programmatic and nationalist approach.

Personal connections John Field taught Glinka as a pianist in St Petersburg. Siegfried Dehn instructed Glinka in counterpoint and music theory in Berlin, proving decisive for his compositional maturity. Mili Balakirev, the future driving force behind the 'Mighty Handful', was in personal contact with Glinka and regarded him as a defining model. Hector Berlioz encountered Glinka during the latter's travels in Europe; the two held one another in mutual esteem, as documented in Berlioz's writings.

Important works
Schisn sa zarja (Ein Leben für den Zaren) – opera (1836)
Ruslan i Ljudmila (Ruslan und Ludmila) – opera (1842)
Kamarinskaja – orchestral fantasy (1848)
Jota aragonesa (Capriccio brillante) – orchestral work (1845)
Noc w Madride (Eine Nacht in Madrid) – orchestral work (1851)
Trio pathétique d-Moll – piano trio (1832)
Waltz-Fantasie – orchestral work (1856, definitive version)
Prinz Cholmski – incidental music (1840)