Editing Mily Balakirev (section)

===Influences===
Perhaps because Balakirev's initial musical experience was as a pianist, composers for his own instrument influenced the repertory and style of his compositions. He wrote in all the genres cultivated by [[Frédéric Chopin]] except the Ballade, cultivating a comparable charm. The other keyboard composer who influenced Balakirev was [[Franz Liszt]], apparent in ''Islamey'' as well as in his transcriptions of works by other composers and the [[symphonic poem]] ''Tamara''.<ref name="cang2513"/>

Balakirev's affinity with Glinka's music becomes most apparent in his handling of folk material. However, Balakirev advances on Glinka's technique of using "variations with changing backgrounds," reconciling the compositional practices of classical music with the idiomatic treatment of [[folk song]], employing motivic fragmentation, counterpoint and a structure exploiting key relationships.<ref>Campbell, ''New Grove (2001)'', 2:513–4.</ref>

Between his two Overtures on Russian Themes, Balakirev became involved with folk song collecting and arranging. This work alerted him to the frequency of the [[Dorian mode]], the tendency for many melodies to swing between the major key and its relative minor on its flat seventh key, and the tendency to accentuate notes not consistent with dominant harmony. These characteristics were reflected in Balakirev's handling of Russian folk song.<ref name="cang2514"/>

Since the musical views of The Five tended to be anti-German, it is easy to forget that Balakirev was actually well-grounded in German symphonic style—all the more impressive when it is remembered that Balakirev was essentially self-taught as a composer. His ''King Lear'' overture, written when he was 22, is not a symphonic poem in the vein of Liszt but actually more along the lines of Beethoven's concert overtures, relying more on the dramatic qualities of [[sonata form]] than on extramusical content.<ref name="maes64">Maes, 64.</ref>