Mily Balakirev

Mily Alexanyevich Balakirev (born Nizhny-Novgorod 2 January 1837; died St Petersburg 29 May 1910) was a Russian composer. His music sounds very Russian, and he was a very important influence on other Russian composers such as Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin and César Cui. These five composers were known as the “Mighty Handful”. Balakirev mainly wrote music for orchestra, choir and piano and solo songs.

М. А. Balakirev in the 1900s.