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Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (2 January 1837 [O.S. 21 December 1836] ? 29 May [O.S. 16 May] 1910) was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He is known today primarily for his work promoting nationalism in Russian music. Working in conjunction with critic Vladimir Stasov, Balakirev brought together the composers now known as The Five, encouraging their efforts and acting as a musical midwife both for them and for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Balakirev became a pivotal figure in Russian music, extending and developing the fusion begun by Mikhail Glinka of traditional Russian and boldly experimental music. In doing so, he established musical patterns that could express overtly nationalistic feeling. He not only demonstrated in his own works how this could be done, but also by taking amateur musicians of prescribed musical education but enormous potential such as Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, he imparted his own musical beliefs and passed them on to underlie the thinking of his pupils. ... Read more

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Chapters: Symphonies by Mily Balakirev, List of Compositions by Mily Balakirev, Islamey, Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 20. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The following is a list of compositions by Russian composer Mily Balakirev. All are for solo piano unless otherwise indicated. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=21026505 ... Read more

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Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Maxim Gorky, Mily Balakirev, Natalia Pankova, Artem Chubarov, Nikolai Bulganin, Yakov Sverdlov, Maya Usova, Anne Vyalitsyna, Natalya Sadova, Pavel Torgayev, Nikolay Kruglov, Jr., Ivan Bubnov, Denis Kornilov, Pavel Filchenkov, Viktor Konovalenko, Sergey Shiryayev, Alexander Baburin, Nikolai Zhilyayev, Zdzisław Lubomirski, Pavel Karelin, Leonid Volkov. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (Russian: , Milij Alekseevi Balakirev, IPA: ) (2 January 1837 29 May 1910), was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer known today primarily for his work promoting musical nationalism. He began his career as a pivotal figure, extending the fusion of traditional folk music and experimental classical music practices begun by composer Mikhail Glinka. In the process, Balakirev developed musical patterns that could express overt nationalistic feeling. After a nervous breakdown and consequent sabbatical, he returned to classical music but did not wield the same level of influence as he had done previously. In conjunction with critic and fellow nationalist Vladimir Stasov, in the late-1850s and early 1860s Balakirev brought together the composers now known as The Fivethe others were Alexander Borodin, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. For several years, Balakirev was the only professional musician of the group; the others were amateurs limited in musical education but possessing enormous potential. He imparted to them his musical beliefs, which continued to underlie their thinking long after he left the group in 1871, and encouraged their compositional efforts. While his methods could be dictatorial, the results of his influence were several works which established these composers' reputations individually and as a group. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=143712 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Heil Balakirev!!
This passage comments on the last piece in this title. Islamey is one of the most skillfully-crafted masterpieces in piano literature with full root-chords, melodious chromatics, and varying flying arppegios all in onepiece. Facinatingly difficult, it uses almost all the keys on the keyboard,from the lowest D flat to the highest F sharp. Only a brilliant composerwith burning talent such as the Great Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev himselfcould produce such a work in the time span of only one month, and Irecommend the discerning pianist should take a listen to it if theyhaven't.

Legend has it that the original composition was so difficultthat Balakirev himself couldn't play it as he had written it. I believe theversion offered in this score is a modified one but it still contains manyconflicting chords that sound too muddy if played as written. Islamey hasbeen avoided by pianists and contenders in piano competitions as it is saidto be too complicated and is considered to have 'died' many yearsago.

But I want to commemorate the legend once more: "Long liveIslamey!!!", and may this classic live FOREVER...

Excellent!

much-needed resource for pianists
At last, a comprehensive resource for pianists. Those who have beensearching for a complete edition of Balakirev's music without the necessityof travelling to Moscow will be thrilled at these offerings from Konemann.Praise to Konemann also for including the early, immature Sonata, not somuch for its performance value (Balakirev rightly considered the later 1905Sonata the true version) but for the opportunity to see the evolution ofBalakirev's style, much like comparing the different versions of Liszt'setudes. The book starts off, in fact, with a Liszt-style operaticparaphrase which is pianistically resplendent, and would provide a true gemof a neglected concert piece in a pianist's repertoire. The same could besaid for most of the contents of these three volumes. It's wonderful tohave a comprehensive collection of Balakirev's wonderfully idiomatic pianomusic, rather than the scattershot edtions generally available from Petersand Zimmerman. My only gripe is that certain minutia such as dedicationsand publication dates are left in the urtext cyrillic, thus promotingrussian dictionary sales. ... Read more

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Tamara ... Read more

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L'ALOUETTE (THE LARK)Piano SoloSeries: Piano SoloPublisher: G. Schirmer, Inc.Composer: Mily Balakirev ... Read more