Balakirev, Mily

Balakirev, Mily (Alekseyevich)

(born Jan. 2, 1837, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia—died May 29, 1910, St. Petersburg) Russian composer. As a youth he met and was influenced by the nationalist composer Mikhail Glinka. Balakirev himself later became the mentor of César Cui (1835–1918) and Modest Mussorgsky; in 1861–62 their group expanded to become The Five. In 1862 Balakirev cofounded the Free School of Music. His works include two symphonies, the piano fantasy Islamey (1869), music for King Lear (1858–61), and a piano concerto. With his colourful imagination and use of folk themes, he was perhaps the most influential proponent of Russian nationalism. After a nervous breakdown in 1871, he adopted a fervent and bigoted form of Orthodoxy and was thereafter involved in musical life only sporadically.