Original: In conjunction with critic and fellow nationalist Vladimir Stasov, in the late-1850s and early 1860s Balakirev brought together the composers now known as The Five - the others were Alexander Borodin, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Simplified: His music sounds very Russian, and he was a very important influence on other Russian composers such as Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin and César Cui.