Music Appreciation: The Music of Russia - From the Tsars to Stalin

Russia, perhaps more than any other country, has produced a steady, unbroken stream of some of the world’s greatest and most innovative music. Think of ground-breaking works like Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” or Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”. In our course, with the help of examples, you will learn about the lives and key achievements of composers from Glinka to Shostakovitch, and the masterpieces which quickly became established on the international stage. State control under both the Tsars and Stalinism posed significant challenges – even persecution - with some composers like Rachmaninov and Stravinsky forced to emigrate. Yet, you will learn how the composers managed to work these restrictions into a creative spur to express their personal voice. In the case of Tchaikovsky in particular, we also examine how the battle between public and private extended to marrying the very different Russian and Western musical forms. In charting the remarkable development of Russian music, we marvel at how, despite their ability to embrace new techniques, the composers still maintained a seamless adherence to tradition and the “Russian soul”