Mikhail Glinka was born in the village of Novospasskoye in the Smolensk province. Immediately after his birth, he was taken in by his grandmother, who spoiled him greatly. Glinka rarely went outside, preferring to draw with chalk on the floor and bang on copper basins, imitating the sound of bells. He was looked after by his nanny Avdotya Ivanovna, who often sang Russian folk songs and told fairy tales and bylinas.

Glinka considered Russian songs and his uncle's serf orchestra, which he particularly loved, to be the main impressions of his childhood. In this orchestra, he played the flute and violin, and later became a conductor.

From 1817, Glinka studied at the Noble Boarding School at the Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg. After graduating, he devoted himself entirely to music, creating his first works.

Glinka studied piano with J. Field and S. Meyer, as well as singing and playing the violin. He often attended theaters and musical evenings, played four hands with the Vielgorisky brothers and A. Varlamov, and began composing romances and instrumental pieces. In 1825, his masterpiece of Russian vocal lyricism, the romance "Do Not Tempt," based on the verses of E. Baratynsky, was published.

Glinka diligently worked on the opera "Ivan Susanin," which premiered in 1836 at the Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg to great success. However, the premiere of his next opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" in 1842 did not evoke such enthusiasm. The criticism prompted the composer to leave for abroad: he went to France and Spain, returning to Russia only in 1847.

In Paris, a concert of Glinka's works was a great success. He wrote: "I am the first Russian composer who introduced the Parisian audience to my name and works created in Russia and for Russia." His impressions from Spain inspired him to create the symphonic pieces "Aragonese Hota" (1845) and "Remembrance of a Summer Night in Madrid" (1848-51). In 1848, the famous "Kamarinskaya," a fantasy on themes from two Russian songs, was also created.

From 1851, Glinka taught singing in St. Petersburg and prepared operas, influencing the formation of Russian classical music.

In 1856, he left for Berlin, where he died on February 15, 1857. The composer was buried in the Lutheran Trinity Cemetery, and later his remains were transported and reburied in St. Petersburg.

Glinka created about 20 songs and romances, as well as wrote 6 symphonic and several chamber-instrumental works and two operas.