Gelinka (June 1, 1804 - February 15, 1857)

Glinka, born on June 1, 1804. He studied piano at the Petersburg Institute of Higher Education from 1818 to 1822, while studying piano with Field and Meyer. As a music lover, he wrote songs and a considerable number of chamber music works. During his 3 years in Italy, he was deeply in love with the music of Bellini and Donizetti. However, due to homesickness, he eventually developed the idea of writing in the Russian style. He composed orchestral pieces on Russian themes (1834). The opera "For the Tsar" made him famous. During this period, he also wrote some of the best songs. In 1842, his second opera, "Ruslan and Lyudmila", was performed. Excerpts from two of his operas were performed in Paris in 1845 by Berlioz and others, a precursor to the performance of Russian music in the West. The last famous work was the "Festival Pognez" (1855), written for the Coronation Ball of Alexander II. His works were few, but they became the basis for excellent Russian works and had a clear influence on later composers such as Balakiliev, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov.

In 1856, Glinka left his country for the last time and never returned. He died in Berlin on February 15, 1857.

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

Ruslan and Lyudmila Glinka