Russian Nationalism in Piano Literature

In the 1830s, a national musical style -marked with emphasis on folk songs, folk-dances, and especially folk rhythms- began to emerge in Russia. This coincided with similar nationalistic movements in other countries such as Poland, Bohemia, and United States. Before the 1830s, music in Russia was influenced by Italian and French music, mainly opera. Musical life in the capital St. Petersburg was undoubtedly very rich. Major works of Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart were often performed. …

…climaxes and troughs in its own timing. Within this new conception of the music, repetition rather than the motivic development produced new attitudes towards the form. Such repetition or breakdown of extended phrases into small bricks replaced long thematic development and created new detailed structures such as Mosaic. Constantly changing rhythm, dynamics, volume and color disguises repetitiveness and prevent monotony. The overall result was a distinctively national style, which is colorful, exotic and very unique.