Balakirev, Mily

 (1837-1910)

Russian composer and member of The Five, born in Nizhny Novgorod, and trained in his native city and at the University of Kazan'.

At the age of 18 he went to St Petersburg, where he became acquainted with the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka. In 1861 Balakirev formed, with four other nationally conscious Russian composers, a group known as The Five; under Balakirev's influence The Five broke away from musical forms, using Russian folk melodies in their compositions and Russian folktales as a basis for their operas. The four others were Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Aleksandr Borodin, and César Cui.

In 1862 Balakirev helped found the Free School of Music in St Petersburg, and in 1869 he became director of the Imperial Chapel and Imperial Music Society. Among his compositions are the symphonic poems Tamara and Russia and the fantasia for piano Islamey, one of the most brilliant and demanding works in the piano repertoire. He also wrote for piano and for voice.