Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/121

Rh of Russian national music. He was an enthusiastic admirer of the later Western composers of the classic school, Schumann, Liszt, Berlioz. His works are romantic in character, and even his subjects, with the exception of several songs, are not taken from Russian life.

The last member of the "Moguchaya Kuchka," N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, was the most prolific and many-sided composer of the group. All his works, no matter what their character, seem equally brilliant, and it is impossible to say whether the palm is to be given to his orchestral, or his vocal compositions. Some of his most remarkable works for the orchestra are his symphony in E-moll, "Scheherazade," and his Capriccio on Spanish themes. He wrote many operas, the best known among which are "Sniegurochka," "Mlada," "Pskovitianka," "Tale about Tsar Saltan," and "The Royal Bride." His efforts comprise, moreover, whole volumes of songs, duets, choruses, and cantatas.

The cult of the Russian national music, whose prophets were Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, and whose apostles were Balakirev, Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov. Borodin, and Cui, was, and still is, religiously worshipped by a whole group of talented composers. Among them are men honored not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the West. Glazounov, Rachmaninov, Ilinsky, Kalinnikov, Grechaninov, Liadov, Arensky, Ippolitov-Ivanov, Taneyev—all these are the men whose works are slowly being revealed to the music-lovers of the world.

There are two more names of which musical Russia is justly proud. These are P. Chaikovsky (1840-1898) and A. Rubinstein (1829-1894). Both of these composers have done yeoman's service in the cause of music in Russia, although they followed different paths.

Chaikovsky stands apart from the rest of the Russian composers. Many and invaluable were his contributions to the wealth of Russian music, and yet his creative genius as a composer belongs not to Russia alone. A Russian by spirit and temperament, he is, at the same time, cosmopolitan in his creative work. It is for this reason that his works were produced in Western Europe before any other Russian had a hearing.

In speaking of Rubinstein, one cannot help comparing him with Glinka. If Russian national music would, perhaps, have been impossible without Glinka, without Rubinstein the blossoming out of the native music would have been delayed many decades. Rubinstein's efforts to arouse interest in music were unending. He was responsible for the establishment of the first