Mily Balakirev

Born in 1837, Balakirev extended Mikhail Glinka's fusion of Russian folk music and experimental classical forms, developing patterns that could carry overt nationalistic feeling. In the late 1850s and early 1860s, working with critic Vladimir Stasov, he assembled The Five — he was the only professional among them — and imposed his musical beliefs through methods that could be dictatorial but produced works that made their reputations. A nervous breakdown sent him into sabbatical; when he returned his influence had diminished. He started his First Symphony in 1864 and finished it in 1897. The o…