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GLINKA  . N . de Rosen) . This was the turning-point, in Glinka's life,—for the work was not only a great success, but in a manner became the origin and basis of a Russian school of national music . The story is taken from the invasion of Russia by the Poles early in the 17th century, and the hero is a peasant who sacrifices his life for the tsar . Glinka has wedded this patriotic theme to inspiring music . His melodies, moreover, show distinct affinity to the popular songs of the Russians, so that the term "national" may justly be applied to them . His appointment as imperial chapelmaster and conductor of the opera of St Peters-burg was the reward of his dramatic successes . His second opera Russian and Lyudmila, founded on Pushkin's poem, did not appear till 1842; it was an advance upon Life for the Tsar in its musical aspect, but made no impression upon the public . In the meantime Glinka wrote an overture and four entre-actes to Kukolnik's drama Prince Kholmsky . In 1844 he went to Paris, and his Jota Arragonesa (1847), and the symphonic work on Spanish themes, Une Nuit a Madrid, reflect the musical results of two years' sojourn in Spain . On his return to St Petersburg he wrote and arranged several pieces for the orchestra, amongst which the so-called Kamarinskaya achieved popularity beyond the limits of Russia .

He also composed numerous songs and romances . In 1857 he went abroad for the third

time; he now wrote his autobiography, orchestrated Weber's Invitation a la valse, and began to consider a plan for a musical version of Gogol's Tarass-Boulba . Abandoning the idea and becoming absorbed in a passion for ecclesiastical music he went to Berlin to study the ancient church modes . Here he died suddenly on the 2nd of February 1857 .