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. Indeed, the greatness of German music and Italian operas at that time encouraged Russian composers to imitat…