Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The classical music scene has been largely dominated by western European composer throughout modern history. Beginning in the 18th century, however, Russian composers begin to appear as major figures. Regardless of era, Russian music carries a distinctly nationalistic quality, drawing on folk tales and folk music idioms. This book introduces the lives, careers and contributions of the most significant Russian composers of the past two centuries, beginning with Glinka and continuing through Shostakovich and Soviet Russia. Project Webster represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Project Webster continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge.