Both Russian and non-Russian composers and music critics willingly used the notion of Russian exoticism to differentiate the Russian musical legacy from the (western) European tradition, especially in the 19 th century. At the same time, various Russian musical practices were considered to be exotic in Russia itself. In this article it is suggested that these two perceptions of Russian music influenced each other, having an impact on the formation of Russian national music. It is further

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... that Russian music served both as an internal and external tool for defining the country's musical culture on the multicultural map of Europe.