Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov (1866-1920) was a Russian composer known for his piano miniatures and teaching pieces, who later gained recognition as an innovator and experimentalist. Born in 1866, Rebikov studied music theory at the Moscow Conservatory under Nikolay Klenovsky, a pupil of Tchaikovsky, and later pursued philology at university. He furthered his musical education in Berlin and Vienna, studying piano, composition, and orchestration with private teachers.

Rebikov's early works were influenced by Tchaikovsky, but his studies of Wagner, Mussorgsky, and Dargomizhsky, along with his exposure to contemporary artistic movements, led him to develop a unique musical language characterized by harmonic expansion and artistic synthesis. He experimented by combining music with mime, rhythmic recitation, and tableaux, and his harmonic innovations included the use of modal, whole-tone, and chromatic scales, as well as tone clusters.

In the 1890s, Rebikov taught and conducted in various Russian cities, including Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, and Kishinev, where he founded a branch of the Society of Russian Composers and a music school. His opera "Into the Storm" premiered in Odessa in 1894 and was later performed in Moscow in 1903 alongside his successful 'musical-psychological drama' "The Christmas Tree," which featured a waltz that became his best-known work.

Despite being a follower of Wagner, Rebikov remained a miniaturist, with his ten operas, two ballets, and orchestral works being small in scale. His manifesto of 1900 advocated for complete freedom from traditional musical principles, emphasizing music as a language of feelings without form or rules. Rebikov's innovations paved the way for future composers like Stravinsky and Prokofiev, earning him recognition as a pioneer and a father of modern music. His legacy is celebrated for his contributions to the development of modern musical language and his influence on subsequent generations of composers.