The first attempts at a Russian Nationalist symphony were made in the late nineteenth-century by Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. Numerous composers followed, from Glazunov to Myaskovsky, instilling their music with the melodies of their homeland. Russian politics had an impact on the Russian symphonists, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev went into exile whilst composers such as Shostakovich vented their political frustrations through the medium of music.
