Excerpt from The National Music of Russia Musorgsky and Scriabin What did this movement mean, and what were the innovations which these Russian masters introduced into music? The answer is found in their works their music is distinguishable from all others, more by the characteristic materials than by'the spirit which animates it. But to describe these particular features in words is difficult. We can say with certainty that in their works, the melody, the tonality with the harmonic super-structures, the rhythms, are all as free as in the folk-songs them selves-a music which had existed before their age. And the fact that it is impossible to find such a freedom or any equivalent richness in the productions of those modern schools which are further removed from popular art, allows us to recognise the felicitous influence of this folk ele ment. But innovations of a tangible order are few in comparison with the value of the new Spirit which the Five were the first to assert. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.