candidate: Michael L. Geller ( 1937–2007 ) , 20th - and 21 st - century composer and viola player , lived and worked in Russia , The Netherlands and Israel Alexander Glazunov ( 1865–1936 ) , late Romantic composer influenced by Johannes Brahms , Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt , one of the few composers ever to write a saxophone concerto Reinhold Glière ( 1875–1956 ) , composer who wrote pieces in a romantic style well into the 20th century Mikhail Glinka ( 1804–1857 ) , one of the first significant Russian composers Alexander Gedike ( 1877–1957 ) , composer and pianist , won the Rubinstein Prize for Composition at the young age of 23 .