The symphonic suite Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov inspired by fairy tales from One Thousand and One Nights won popularity shortly after its premiere, which had been conducted by the composer in November 1888. It is still popular all over the world. Scheherazade is a brilliant example of Russian Orientalism in music and a colorfully orchestrated dramatic composition. The composer very skillfully depicts a grand spectacle of the sea as well as battle, love and festive scenes while knitting them together by the recurring theme that represents Scheherazade’s narrative with a violin solo.
The orchestra in Scheherazade sounds colorific and rich. Not only the violin plays its solo, but almost all other instruments do. In the second movement, the theme representing Kalendar’s narrative is played by a bassoon and then by an oboe, and later, in the battle scene, trumpets and trombones sound militant. In the third movement, a clarinet accompanied by a snare drum performs the piquant dance melody that represents the young Princess. However, the composer did not invite the public to look for a specific plot in his music or an explanation of it, and therefore he omitted the original subtitles of the movements upon re-edition of the score. “In composing Scheherazade I meant […] to direct but slightly the hearer’s fancy on the path which my own fancy had travelled, and to leave more minute and particular conceptions to the will and mood of each,” he wrote.
Later Scheherazade was adapted for ballet and choreographed by Michel Fokine to capture the European public at the Ballets Russes.
Vladimir Khavrov
The arioso Anchar (The Upas-Tree) was set to Alexander Pushkin’s lyrics and dedicated to Fyodor Stravinsky, an outstanding Russian bass opera singer and a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre. Some years later his son Igor Stravinsky began his music studies under Rimsky-Korsakov to outshine as a composer his father’s glory in the future. The composition was originally written to be accompanied by piano, and in 1906 the composer orchestrated it.
Natalia Rogudeeva
The Two Duets set to Maykov’s words are included in Rimsky-Korsakov’s late romances which are the centerpiece both of the composer’s legacy and of all Russian vocal lyrics. Their distinctive feature is a revolutionary approach to the translation of poetic texts into music. Previously Rimsky-Korsakov composed romance melodies instrumentally, tying up them generally with their contents. The music in his late romances is fused with the words to emphasize them. The accompaniment turns into an organic part of image and sometimes reaches Rachmaninoff’s virtuosity and fullness of sound.
Capriccio Espagnol is one of the greatest artistic triumphs achieved by Rimsky-Korsakov. In Russian music it brilliantly continues the Spanish theme which comes from Glinka’s symphonic overtures. Having perfectly unlocked the expressive powers of all orchestral instruments, this score is well beyond a masterly symphonic etude. It turns into an exciting musical story about the people’s life and the southern nature full of glamour.
Nadezhda Kulygina
