Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla
Mikhail Glinka (1804-57)
Glinka is regarded as the founder of the Russian nationalist school in the nineteenth century, the composer who first showed his comrades how to evoke the history and culture of their own nation in music. Probably his most popular piece worldwide is the brilliant overture to the opera based on Pushkin's fantastic, ironic fairy-tale Russlan and Ludmilla, composed between 1837 and 1842. With its exuberant rhythms and sometimes pungent harmonies, the opera has been called "the most seminal work in the history of Russian music." Outside of Russia, the overture is far and away the best-known portion of the score.