Russia During the Turn of the 20th Century
Music, as are all the arts, is sensitive to social change. In the early 20th century, composers Varvara Gaigerova, Alexander Winkler, and Paul Juon, reflect different aspects of Russian music at this historic time of intense social and political revolution.
The Russian Revolution of 1905, the February and October Revolutions of 1917, in concert with the complex dynamics involved in the two great World Wars, created instability and hardship for most. Of the three composers, only Gaigerova remained in Russia during the social upheaval mirrored in the realm of music.
Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857) led the way to a definitive Russian style in music composition that reflected the greater part of society by incorporating folk tunes and rhythms into art music. Prior to the 1830s, the composition of art music in Russia was dominated by imitation of French and Italian music, primarily opera. In my opinion, this was in keeping with the social structure entrenched in the second half of 18th century Russia. The four main strata of social hierarchy were: the imperial court, the nobility, urban population, and peasants.
The music of the imperial court and the Russian nobility was heavily influenced by the conventions of Western Europe. The imperial court was rigid against any modifications. However, in the course of employing many foreign composers, the dominant culture of the Russian nobility exhibited more flexibility in allowing outside influences.
Urban musical life was also flexible, revolving around merchants, artisans, servants, and foreign enclaves like German town or Chinatown. The peasant music was characterized by complex polyphonic singing, resistant to urban or European influences. These hundreds of Russian folk tunes were an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the art music composed after the 1830's.
Though making use of Western structure, Glinka composed music that was undeniably Russian. He was the first Russian composer to successfully write operas of a quality competitive with their Western counterparts. Typical indicators of the Russian style are folk songs and rhythms, motivic development, rich orchestral color, drone basses, and chromatic or modal harmonies. In contrast, Western European music of that time relied on formal structure, and rarely used folk elements.