Russian Nationalism

We turn to 19th-century Russian musical nationalism with a brief history of St. Petersburg, a city built by Czar Peter I as his window on the West. Russia's entry into the greater European community as a result of the defeat of Napoleon and the Decembrist Revolution of 1825 are discussed, as is the growing conviction that the language and native music of Russia were capable of the highest artistic expression. The music and ideas of the Russian Five—Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin—are discussed and illustrated, with special emphasis on Rimsky-Korsakov and his Russian Easter Overture.