Russian polka mikhail ivanovich glinka biography

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Михаи́л Ива́нович Гли́нка) (June 1, 1804 – February 15, 1857) was a Russiancomposer.

Glinka was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition outside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian music.

His work was an important influence on future composers from that country, notably the members of the Mighty Handful, who took Glinka's lead and produced a distinctively Russian kind of classical music.

Among his works are the operasA Life for the Tsar (Zhizn za tsarya) and Ruslan and Lyudmila, with a libretto written by Aleksandr Pushkin, the overture to which is often played in concerts.

His lesser known orchestral works include the symphonic poem Kamarinskaya.

Glinka was the son of a wealthy merchant. This afforded him the opportunity to spend much of his y