In the mid-19th century, Russia appeared as an independent culture on the musical map of Europe. Mikhail Glinka, the ‘father of Russian music’, made a decisive contribution to this with his operas and instrumental works - his overture to Ruslan and Ludmila is one of the most outstanding examples of splendid orchestral music. Decades later, the country's leading symphonist became Peter Tchaikovsky, whose emotionally profound Symphony No. 5 of 1888 is probably one of the most significant achievements in the field of orchestral music. A certain symphonic character is also inherent in Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto, an equally concentrated and effective work from his virtuoso period around 1800.