Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov: Sheherazade (Tale of Tsar Saltan, Suite for orchestra, 1-3 Op.57)

Benoit Gravel

Published on Feb 12, 2015

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky Korsakov is born March 18th 1844 and died June 21th 1908. He was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as ”The Five” He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects. Rimsky-Korsakov believed, as did fellow composer Mily Balakirev and critic Vladimir Stasov, in developing a nationalistic style of classical music. This style employed Russian folk song and lore along with exotic harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements in a practice known as musical orientalism, and eschewed traditional Western compositional methods. However, Rimsky-Korsakov appreciated Western musical techniques after he became a professor of musical composition, harmony and orchestration at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1871

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Tale of Tsar Saltan Suite, Op. 57: III. The three wonders

 

Tale of Tsar Saltan Suite, Op. 57: III. The three wonders

Various Artists – Topic

Published on Apr 11, 2014

Tale of Tsar Saltan Suite, Op. 57: III. The three wonders

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

℗ 1997 Capriccio

Released on: 1997-01-01

Conductor: Michail Jurowski
Orchestra: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Composer: Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov

 

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34

Fledermaus1990

Uploaded on Nov 1, 2011

Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34, is the common Western title for an orchestral work based on Spanish folk melodies and written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. Rimsky-Korsakov originally intended to write the work for a solo violin with orchestra, but later decided that a purely orchestral work would do better justice to the lively melodies. The Russian title is Каприччио на испанские темы (literally, Capriccio on Spanish Themes). The Capriccio consists of five movements and is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes (one doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings.

The work has five movements:

The first movement, Alborada, is a festive and exciting dance, typically from traditional asturian music to celebrate the rising of the sun. It features the clarinet with two solos, and later features a solo violin with a solo similar to the clarinet’s.

The second movement, Variazioni, begins with a melody in the horn section. Variations of this melody are then repeated by other instruments and sections of the orchestra.

The third movement, Alborada, presents the same asturian dance as the first movement. The two movements are nearly identical, in fact, except that this movement has a different instrumentation and key.

The fourth movement, Scena e canto gitano (“Scene and gypsy song”) opens with five cadenzas — first by the horns and trumpets, then solo violin, flute, clarinet, and harp — played over rolls on various percussion instruments. It is then followed by a dance in triple time leading attacca into the final movement.

The fifth and final movement, Fandango asturiano, is also an energetic dance from the Asturias region of northern Spain. The piece ends with an even more rousing statement of the Alborada theme.

Rimsky-Korsakov – Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 Conductor: Zubin Mehta Orchestra: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Rimsky-Korsakov – Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36

Fledermaus1990

Uploaded on May 30, 2011

Also known as The Great Russian Easter Overture, is a concert overture written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov between August 1887 and April 1888, and dedicated to the memories of Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin, two members of the legendary “Mighty Handful”.

It is subtitled “Overture on Liturgical Themes”. It is the last of the composer’s series of three exceptionally brilliant orchestral works, preceded by Capriccio Espagnol and Scheherazade. The work received its premiere in St. Petersburg in late December 1888.

Conductor: Zubin Mehta
Orchestra: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Picture: Il’ja Efimovič Repin, Easter Procession in the region of Kursk (1880-1883)

today’s birthday: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844) (Flight of the Bumble Bee, Itzhak Perlman)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844)

Rimsky-Korsakov, a Russian composer noted for his skill in orchestration, completed his first symphony at the age of 21, while serving as a midshipman with the Imperial Russian Navy. In 1871, he became a professor at St. Petersburg Conservatory, and he taught many famous future composers, including Igor Stravinsky. As a member of a group of nationalist composers known as “The Five,” Rimsky-Korsakov aimed to write music of distinctively Russian character. What often inspired his work? More… Discuss

Rimsky-Korsakov – Dubinushka, op. 62

Andrea Maronese

Uploaded on Feb 17, 2010

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) – “Dubinuschka”, op. 62.

L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – Fantasia on Russian Themes / Фантазия на русские темы , great compositions/performances

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – Fantasia on Russian Themes / Фантазия на русские темы

miljkmi

Published on Mar 5, 2012

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), Россия

– Fantasia on Russian Themes, Op. 33
– Фантазия на русские темы, соч. 33

Lydia Mordkovich, violin
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Neeme Järvi

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov,Symphonic Suite:”Antar” (Symphony No.2) , great compositions/performances

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov,Symphonic Suite:”Antar” (Symphony No.2).

pomip1010

Published on Jan 24, 2014

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov had a work ethic that bordered on the obsessive, and when inspiration failed him, he would often busy himself by tidying up works from his youth. This habit accounts for the proliferation of versions of Antar. This work was composed between January and August 1868, and premiered in March of the next year. After a few alterations, it was published in 1880 as his Second Symphony. However, in the “new edition” of 1903, which was dated 1897, “Antar” was substantially revised and called a symphonic suite, with the words Second Symphony in a parenthetical subtitle. In 1913, a final version of Antar came out, called simply a “Symphonic Suite,” as Rimsky-Korsakov had decided that Antar was “a poem, suite, fairy tale, story, anything you like, but not a symphony.” The final version changes the key of the second movement and has more refined and detailed orchestration. However, the earlier version may best preserve the freshness of Rimsky-Korsakov’s response to the myth of Antar, a great warrior from Arabian literature.

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra/Lucasz Borowicz.

Rimsky-Korsakov – Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (1888), played on period instruments

musicanth

Uploaded on May 26, 2011/11,937 views

Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (1888)

A concert overture by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on themes from Russian Orthodox liturgical chant. In particular, Rimsky-Korsakov uses chant melodies from the “Obikhod” collection, referencing a number of biblical passages including Psalm 68 and Mark 16. The intention in this overture is not devotional – indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov was an atheist – but he attempted to capture “the legendary and heathen aspect of the holiday, and the transition from the solemnity and mystery of the evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious celebrations of Easter Sunday morning” (quoted from the composer’s autobiography). The piece is also notable for its use of the unusual 5/2 and 3/1 time signatures.

This recording was made by conductor Jos van Immerseel and the Anima Eterna Orchestra, which plays on period instruments.

 

 

 

 

Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia – Svetlanov , great compositions/performances

Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia – Svetlanov

Mark Farago

Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia – Musical picture

USSR Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor
Rec. 1966

The musical picture “In Central Asia” was written in 1880 and premiered in St.Petersburg under Rimsky Korsakov‘s baton that year.

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade / Gergiev · Vienna Philharmonic · Salzburg Festival 2005 , great compositions/performances

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade / Gergiev · Vienna Philharmonic · Salzburg Festival 2005

Canal de Josep489

 

Published on Mar 3, 2012/ 2,604,521 views

Gran presentación de la Orquesta Filarmónica de Viena dirigida por Valery Gergiev, interpretando la famosa obra “Scheherazada” del compositor ruso Nikolai Rimsky-Korsavov, en el Festival de Salzburgo 2005.

Great presentation of Vienna Phiharmonic conducted by russian Maestro Valery Gergiev, playing the russian work “Scheherazade” of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, at Salzburg Festival 2005.

(C) ZDF and all their respective owners. No personal work here.

Rimsky Korsakov – Dance Of The Tumblers -: make music pat of your life series

Rimsky Korsakov – Dance Of The Tumblers –

  Sliepnir2006

Uploaded on Nov 20, 2008

Please remember to visit http://www.youtube.com/user/shreddeds… and sign her petition.
Rimsky Korakov A lively classical instrumental, this recording made in the late 70s.

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Rimsky-Korsakov – Mlada Suite, Procession of the Nobles – Svetlanov,: great compositions/performances

Rimsky-Korsakov – Mlada Suite, Procession of the Nobles – Svetlanov

Opus 21

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Mlada Suite, Procession of the Nobles

London Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor

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• Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895): Great compositions/performances

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & London Symphony Orchestra: great compositions/performances

Carl Maria von Weber, Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op.79. Alfred Brendel & LSO

  Czarmuzyki Ewa Chamiec

Carl Maria von Weber Konzertstück f-moll für Klavier und Orchester, Op. 79 – Alfred Brendel, London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado — https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…

Barbirolli – Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky,: great compositions/performances

[embes]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRKiE8o3NQU[/embed]

Barbirolli – Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky (improved sound)

  2ndviolinist

London Symphony Orchestra
Recorded in 1947
*******************************************************************
John Barbirolli
Born: 12/2/1899 – Holborn, London, England
Died: 7/29/1970 – London, England
*******************************************************************
Anton Stepanovich Arensky (Russian: Антон Степанович Аренский) (12 July 1861 — 25 February 1906), was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.

Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine. With his mother and father, he moved to Saint Petersburg in 1879, where he studied composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. After graduating from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1882, Arensky became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students there were Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Gretchaninov. In 1895 Arensky returned to Saint Petersburg as the director of the Imperial Choir, a post for which he had been recommended by Mily Balakirev. Arensky retired from this position in 1901, spending his remaining time as a pianist, conductor, and composer. Arensky died of tuberculosis in a sanatorium in Perkjärvi, Finland. It is alleged that drinking and gambling undermined his health.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky’s musical compositions. Indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov said, “In his youth Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten.” The perception that he lacked a distinctive personal style contributed to long-term neglect of his music, though in recent years a large number of his compositions have been recorded. Especially popular are the orchestral Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky based on one of Tchaikovsky’s Songs for Children, Op. 54.

Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895): Great compositions/performances

Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895)

   musicanth

Uploaded on Dec 23, 2010/67,932 views

Christmas Eve (Suite)

I. Christmas Night
II. Ballet of the Stars
III. Witches’ Sabbath and Ride on the Devil’s Back
IV. Polonaise
V. Vakula and the Slippers

A thrilling orchestral suite by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on music from the 1895 opera of the same name. The plot of the opera follows the short story “Christmas Eve” from Nikolai Gogol‘s “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka“. The same story also formed the basis of Tchaikovsky’s operas “Vakula the Smith” and “Cherevichki“.

A synopsis of Gogol’s short story is available on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christma…

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• Alexander Borodin In The Steppes Of Central Asia: make music part of your life series

Alexander Borodin In The Steppes Of Central Asia: make music part of your life series

Alexander Borodin In The Steppes Of Central Asia

bluekeith999 さんのチャンネル

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Three main themes from the composition

In the Steppes of Central Asia (Russian: В средней Азии, V srednyeĭ Azii, literally In Central Asia) is the common English title for a “musical tableau” (or symphonic poem) by Alexander Borodin, composed in 1880.

Background

The work was originally intended to be presented as one of several tableaux vivants to celebrate the silver anniversary of the reign of Alexander II of Russia, who had done much to expand the Russian Empire eastward. The intended production never occurred, but the work itself became, and has remained, a concert favorite ever since its first concert performance, on 8 April 1880 (Old style) in St. Petersburg by the orchestra of the Russian Opera under the conductorship of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.^[1] The work is dedicated to Franz Liszt.

Structure

This orchestral work idyllically depicts an interaction of Russians and Asians in the steppe lands of the Caucasus. A caravan of Central Asians is crossing the desert under the protection of Russian troops. The opening theme, representing the Russians, is heard first (see chart of themes); then we hear the strains of an ornamented eastern melody on English horn, representing the Asians. These two melodies eventually are combined contrapuntally. Amidst these two ethnic melodies is heard a “traveling” theme in pizzicato that represents the plodding hoofs of the horses and camels. At the end only the Russian theme is heard.

Instrumentation

The piece is scored for two Flutes, Oboe, Cor Anglais, two Clarinets, two Bassoons, four Horns in F, two Trumpets in F, two Trombones, Bass Trombone, Timpani and strings.

Somewhat unusually, the two scores available via the IMSLP link below show different tempo markings at the start. The Eulenberg score is marked “Allegretto con moto”, whereas the Russian Muzica score shows “Allegro con moto”.

Composer’s note

The composer provided the following description in a note to the score:

“In the silence of the monotonous steppes of Central Asia is heard the unfamiliar sound of a peaceful Russian song. From the distance we hear the approach of horses and camels and the bizarre and melancholy notes of an oriental melody. A caravan approaches, escorted by Russian soldiers, and continues safely on its way through the immense desert. It disappears slowly. The notes of the Russian and Asiatic melodies join in a common harmony, which dies away as the caravan disappears in the distance.”

Alexander Borodin – String Quartet No. 2: make music part of your life series

Alexander Borodin – String Quartet No. 2

  ollavogala

– Composer: Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 1833 — 27 February 1887)
– Performers: Borodin String Quartet
– Year of recording: 1980String Quartet No. 2 in D major, written in 1881.

00:00 – I. Allegro moderato in D major and 2/2 time
08:26 – II. Scherzo. Allegro in F major and 3/4 time
13:19 – III. Notturno (Nocturne): Andante in A major and 3/4 time
22:03 – IV. Finale: Andante — Vivace in D major and 2/4 time

Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 in D major differs from many of the composer’s other works in two ways: it was completed quickly, during August 1881, and it lacks a published program. These two factors may be related; Borodin dedicated the quartet to his wife Ekaterina, and it was written as an evocation of when they met and fell in love in Heidelberg 20 years earlier. The composer seems to have represented himself in this quartet with the cello (he was an amateur player), while Ekaterina is portrayed by the first violin. Each of the movements is warm and blissful, the whole suggesting the depiction of a growing, deepening love.

– The first movement opens with a sweet, sighing melody, traded between first violin and cello in an almost conversational manner. Borodin and Ekaterina dominate the rest of the movement with a beguiling discourse; even the development brings effortless, serene reshapings of the exposition’s melodies, and the luminous coda rounds out the movement nicely.
– A Scherzo, written in a free sonata form, follows. The light first subject skips along gracefully, while the second subject is reminiscent of a waltz; both are gentle dances, gently handled. The development is in more decisive duple rhythm, but the recapitulation soon brings back the triple rhythm and its attendant character.
– Borodin and Ekaterina reappear in the famous Nocturne which follows. Over a luminous gauze of accompaniment from the second violin and viola, the cello introduces a long, tender, ardent melody marked cantabile ed espressivo. This melody soon passes to the first violin, which plays it over commentary from the cello. A more decisive second theme enters on both instruments, which develop it before playing the first theme in an intimate canon. The first theme lingers until the end of the movement, when in a long coda it ascends until the violin and cello play it together in a silvery thread of tone.
– The finale begins with an Andante introduction, as if unwilling to come down from the emotional heights of the previous movement, soon leading into a quicksilver, energetic Vivace, whose long coda provides a fittingly joyous conclusion to the entire work.

As love letters go, Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 is unsurpassed; as string quartets go, it is deservedly loved.

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Flight of the bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: great compositions/performances

Flight of the bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

  bluice01’s channel

Tale of Tsar Saltan: Suite, Op. 57 – Flight of the bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Russian National Orchestra. Moscow State Conservatory (Grand Hall), Mikhail Pletnev (conductor), September 19, 2008

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Modest Mussorgsky: Dawn on the Moskva-River: Make music part of your life series

Mussorgsky Dawn on the Moskva-River

  Mark Farago

Mussorgsky: Dawn on the Moskva-River

Introduction to the Opera “Khovanshchina“
Edition: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

USSR Symphony Orchestra
Evgeny Svetlanov, conductor

Pictures: Moskva-river…

Mussorgsky “Pictures at an Exhibition” arr: Stokowski: great compositions/performances

Mussorgsky “Pictures at an Exhibition” arr: Stokowski

  Addiobelpassato

“Pictures at an Exhibition”
for piano by Modest Mussorgsky
arranged for orchestra by Leopold Stokowski
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Leopold Stokowski, conductor
(1966)
*****************************************************************

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

This article is about the original suite by Modest Mussorgsky and its orchestral arrangements. For other uses, see Pictures at an Exhibition .

Mussorgsky in 1874

Mussorgsky’s letter to Stasov, June 1874, written while composing Pictures

Mussorgsky’s letter to Stasov, June 1874, written while composing Pictures

Pictures at an Exhibition (Russian: Картинки с выставки – Воспоминание о Викторе Гартмане, Kartínki s výstavki – Vospominániye o Víktore Gártmane, “Pictures from an Exhibition – A Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann”; French: Tableaux d’une exposition) is a suite in ten movements (plus a recurring, varied Promenade) composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.

The suite is Mussorgsky’s most famous piano composition and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists. It has become further known through various orchestrations and arrangements produced by other musicians and composers, with Maurice Ravel’s arrangement being the most recorded and performed.

Movements:

• 4.1 Promenade
• 4.2 No. 1 “The Gnome”
• 4.3 [Untitled] (Interlude, Promenade theme)
• 4.4 No. 2 “The Old Castle”
• 4.5 [Untitled] (Interlude, Promenade theme)
• 4.6 No. 3 “Tuileries”
• 4.7 No. 4 “Cattle”
• 4.8 [Untitled] (Interlude, Promenade theme)
• 4.9 No. 5 “The Ballet of Unhatched Chicks in their Shells”
• 4.10 No. 6 “Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle”
• 4.11 Promenade
• 4.12 No. 7 “The Market at Limoges (The Great News)
• 4.13 No. 8 “Catacombs”
• 4.14 No. 9 “The Hut on Fowl’s Legs”
• 4.15 No. 10 “The Great Gate of Kiev”
  

Gallery of Hartmann’s pictures

The surviving works by Hartmann that can be shown with any certainty to have been used by Mussorgsky in assembling his suite, along with their titles, are as follows:^[2]

• 

  No. 5
  Sketch of theatre costumes for the ballet Trilby

• 

  No. 6a
  Jew in a fur cap. Sandomierz

• 

  No. 6b
  Sandomierz Jew

• 

  No. 8
  Paris catacombs
  (with the figures of V. A. Hartmann, V. A. Kenel, and a guide, holding a lantern)

• 

  No. 9
  The hut of Baba-Yaga on hen’s legs–clock in the Russian Style

• 

  No. 10
  Project for a city gate in Kiev–main façade

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Alexander Porfir’yevich Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia, In the Steppes Of Central Asia: great compositions/performances

Alexander Porfir’yevich Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia, In the Steppes Of Central Asia

  Naxos
Alexander Porfir’yevich Borodin
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Nazareth, Various Artists
In the Steppes of Central Asia
101 Great Orchestral Classics, Vol. 1
8.551141
http://www.classicsonline.com/catalog…
http://www.naxoslicensing.com/

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Modest Mussorgsky – Saint John’s Night on the Bare Mountain (Original score) / Abbado – LSO: great compositions/performances

FROM:     Panagiotis Papadakos

Modest Mussorgsky – Saint John’s Night on the Bare Mountain (Original score) / Abbado – LSO

The original Mussorgsky score (1867) and not the Rimsky Korsakov one (1886).

From wikipedia:
Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later (1886) and very popular “fantasy for orchestra” arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain (Ночь на лысой горе, Noch’ na lysoy gorye), based on the vocal score of the “Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad” (1880) from The Fair at Sorochyntsi with some revisions, most notably the omission of the choir.[citation needed] There is also a version orchestrated by twentieth-century conductor Leopold Stokowski; this is the version used in the now-classic 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia.

Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky made a witches’ sabbath the theme of the original tone poem, completed on 23 June 1867 (St. John’s Eve). St. John’s Night on the Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “musical picture” Sadko (also composed in 1867) share the distinction of being the first tone poems by Russian composers.

As with so much of Mussorgsky’s music, the work had a tortuous compositional history and was arranged after his death in 1881 by his friend and fellow member of The Mighty Handful Rimsky-Korsakov. It was never performed in any form during Mussorgsky’s lifetime.[2] The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered in 1886, and has become a concert favorite.

Setting:
Russian legend tells of a witches’ sabbath taking place on St. John’s Night (June 23–24) on the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev.

Program:
The following program is taken from the score: Сбор ведьм, их толки и сплетни (Assembly of the witches, their chatter and gossip) Поезд Сатаны (Cortège of Satan) Чёрная служба, Messe noire (Black service, Black mass) Шабаш (Sabbath)

More details and a variation to this program may be found in a letter written by the composer to Vladimir Nikolsky: “So far as my memory doesn’t deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief — Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches’ praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy. –So this is what I’ve done.
At the head of my score I’ve put its content:
1. Assembly of the witches, their talk and gossip;
2. Satan’s journey;
3. Obscene praises of Satan; and
4. Sabbath… The form and character of the composition are both Russian and original”.

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Aleksandr Glazunov: Symphony no.6 op.58 (Gennadij Rozhdestvenskij, conductor): make music part of your life series

Aleksandr Glazunov: Symphony no.6 op.58 (Gennadij Rozhdestvenskij, conductor)

Parts/Movements

1. Adagio – Allegro passionato
2. Tema con varazioni
3. Intermezzo. Allegretto
4. Finale. Andante maestoso

Review :

While the Symphony No. 6 in C minor, Op. 58, of 1896 by Alexander Glazunov is not the most personally characteristic of his eight completed symphonies — the optimistic Third or the Olympian Fifth are more typical of his confident symphonic aesthetic — it is arguably the most typically Russian of his symphonies. Part of the reason for this is the scoring — violins in octaves above massed brass at its climaxes à la Tchaikovsky and gorgeously colorful woodwind writing in its central movements — part of it is the themes — ardent and powerful with a yearning quality characteristic of fin de siècle Russian symphonies — but most of it is the furious tone of the opening movement.
******With the darkly unfolding Adagio leading into a Allegro appassionato that balances a passionately despairing first theme with a fervently supplicating second theme, Glazunov’s Sixth sounds like a Russian symphony composed after the death of Tchaikovsky. But the Sixth is more than the work of a symphonic epigone. While the tone of the opening movement sounds typically Russian, its chromatic melodic and cogent harmonic structure makes it sound much more modern than contemporary symphonies by Kalinnikov or even Rachmaninov. Even more modern are the Sixth’s second and fourth movements.
******The second movement is a theme and seven variations that slowly transmutes the tone of the symphony from the fury of the opening movement to one of calm acceptance.
******The brief third-movement Intermezzo that precedes the Finale is lighter in tone than anything else in the symphony.
******The Finale itself is one of Glazunov’s most successful closing movements. With its magisterial Andante maestoso introduction announcing the chorale theme that will ultimately cap the movement, its highly contrasted themes — the first confidently striding in the winds Moderato maestoso, the second a lilting Scherzando theme for the flutes, horns, and strings — the Finale seems at first too episodic to cohere. Glazunov’s superb technical skills, however, form all the Finale’s material into an organic whole and the tone of the Finale — powerfully positive — is altogether Glazunov’s own. ~ James Leonard, Rovi

Read more:
               http://www.answers.com/topic/symphony-no-6-in-c-minor-op-58#ixzz3AkekJ1oA
               http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/5a0988a4-695c-4bff-bc68-4f312427495e.html
              http://www.allmusic.com/composition/symphony-no-6-in-c-minor-op-58-mc0002366895

 

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make music part of your life series Borodin: Steppes of Central Asia – Ashkenazy*

[youtube.com/watch?v=nAnXll57BZ8]

Borodin: Steppes of Central Asia – Ashkenazy*

 

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great compositions/performances: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition ( Full ) – BPO / Karajan*

[youtube.com/watch?v=kkC3chi_ysw]

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition ( Full ) – BPO / Karajan*

Herbert Von Karajan for PIFAL (Photo credit: Arturo Espinosa)

With the original survived pictures of Hartmann and others

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make music part of your life series: SAMOHI (Philharmonic Orchestra) Procession of the Nobles from “Mlada” Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

[youtube.com/watch?v=GeVZpFjK6lg]

SAMOHI (Philharmonic Orchestra) Procession of the Nobles from “Mlada” Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

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great compositions/performances: Barbirolli – Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky (improved sound)

[youtube.com/watch?v=tRKiE8o3NQU]

Barbirolli – Arensky: Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky

London Symphony Orchestra
Recorded in 1947

John Barbirolli in the mid-1960s (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John Barbirolli
Born: 12/2/1899 – Holborn, London, England
Died: 7/29/1970 – London, England

Anton Stepanovich Arensky (Russian: Антон Степанович Аренский) (12 July 1861 — 25 February 1906), was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.

Anton Arensky, 1895

Arensky was born in Novgorod, Russia. He was musically precocious and had composed a number of songs and piano pieces by the age of nine. With his mother and father, he moved to Saint Petersburg in 1879, where he studied composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. After graduating from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1882, Arensky became a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Among his students there were Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Gretchaninov. In 1895 Arensky returned to Saint Petersburg as the director of the Imperial Choir, a post for which he had been recommended by Mily Balakirev. Arensky retired from this position in 1901, spending his remaining time as a pianist, conductor, and composer. Arensky died of tuberculosis in a sanatorium in Perkjärvi, Finland. It is alleged that drinking and gambling undermined his health.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky was the greatest influence on Arensky’s musical compositions. Indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov said, “In his youth Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten.” The perception that he lacked a distinctive personal style contributed to long-term neglect of his music, though in recent years a large number of his compositions have been recorded. Especially popular are the orchestral Variations on a Theme of Tchaikovsky based on one of Tchaikovsky’s Songs for Children, Op. 54.

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make music pat of your life series: BORODIN – In the Steppes of Central Asia

[youtube.com/watch?v=X8znXcCwQWU]

BORODIN – In the Steppes of Central Asia

Alexander Borodin
In the Steppes of Central Asia 7:27

Exlusive BBC Studio Recording
BBC Philharmonic
Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)

Recorded in Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester
on 28 April 2007

The BBC Music Magazine Collection
Vol.16 No.3

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Make Music Part of Your Life Series: Rimsky Korsakov – Dance Of The Tumblers – (What a tremendous amount of energy!)

[youtube.com/watch?v=KVIB3T2Q-sY]

Rimsky Korsakov – Dance Of The Tumblers –

Please remember to visit http://www.youtube.com/user/shreddeds… and sign her petition.

Rimsky Korakov A lively classical instrumental, this recording made in the late 70s.

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Great Compositions/Performances: Rimsky Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol Op 34 Berliner Phil Dir Zubin Mehta

[youtube.com/watch?v=Lh6mDL-VwYw]

Rimsky Korsakov Capriccio Espagnol Op 34 Berliner Phil Dir Zubin Mehta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34, is the common Western title for an orchestral work based on Spanish folk melodies and written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. Rimsky-Korsakov originally intended to write the work for a solo violin with orchestra, but later decided that a purely orchestral work would do better justice to the lively melodies. The Russian title is Каприччио на испанские темы (literally, Capriccio on Spanish Themes). The Capriccio consists of five movements and is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes (one doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings.^[

Structure

The work has five movements, divided into two parts comprising the first three and the latter two movements respectively..

1. The first movement, Alborada, is a festive and exciting dance, typically from traditional asturian music to celebrate the rising of the sun. It features the clarinet with two solos, and later features a solo violin with a solo similar to the clarinet’s.
2. The second movement, Variazioni, begins with a melody in the horn section. Variations of this melody are then repeated by other instruments and sections of the orchestra.
3. The third movement, Alborada, presents the same asturian dance as the first movement. The two movements are nearly identical, in fact, except that this movement has a different instrumentation and key.
4. The fourth movement, Scena e canto gitano (“Scene and gypsy song”) opens with five cadenzas — first by the horns and trumpets, then solo violin, flute, clarinet, and harp — played over rolls on various percussion instruments. It is then followed by a dance in triple time leading attacca into the final movement.
5. The fifth and final movement, Fandango asturiano, is also an energetic dance from the Asturias region of northern Spain. The piece ends with an even more rousing statement of the Alborada theme.

A complete performance of the Capriccio takes around 16 minutes

Use in film

• Capriccio Espagnol, Op.34 is played during the opening credits and as the Spanish Carnaval background music during Josef von Sternberg‘s film The Devil Is a Woman (1935), credited on screen as ‘Music based on Rimsky-Korsakoff’s “Spanish Caprice” and Old Spanish Melodies’.
• Excerpts were heard in the fictional 1947 biopic of Rimsky-Korsakov, Song of Scheherazade.
• A recording by “Philharmonia Slavonica” featured in the film Brokeback Mountain (2006). The “Philharmonia Slavonica” is pseudonymous group that appears on a number of recordings of the bargain-record producer Alfred Scholz. The performances attributed to them are often by the Austrian Radio (ORF) Orchestra.
• A recording by the Moscow Radio Symphony in the film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

 

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Great Compositions/Performances: Tchaikovsky-Meditation from Souvenir d’un lieu cher op. 42 no. 1 (Orchestrated by A. Glazunov)

Isaac Stern: violin-National Symphony Orchestra-Mstislav Rostropovich: conductor-1977

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Modest Mussorgsky – Saint John’s Night on the Bare Mountain (Original score) / Abbado – LSO

The original Mussorgsky score (1867) and not the Rimsky Korsakov one (1886).

From wikipedia:
Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later (1886) and very popular “fantasy for orchestra” arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain (Ночь на лысой горе, Noch’ na lysoy gorye), based on the vocal score of the “Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad” (1880) from The Fair at Sorochyntsi with some revisions, most notably the omission of the choir.[citation needed] There is also a version orchestrated by twentieth-century conductor Leopold Stokowski; this is the version used in the now-classic 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia.

Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky made a witches’ sabbath the theme of the original tone poem, completed on 23 June 1867 (St. John’s Eve). St. John’s Night on the Bare Mountain and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “musical picture” Sadko (also composed in 1867) share the distinction of being the first tone poems by Russian composers.

As with so much of Mussorgsky’s music, the work had a tortuous compositional history and was arranged after his death in 1881 by his friend and fellow member of The Mighty Handful Rimsky-Korsakov. It was never performed in any form during Mussorgsky’s lifetime.[2] The Rimsky-Korsakov edition premiered in 1886, and has become a concert favorite.

Setting:
Russian legend tells of a witches’ sabbath taking place on St. John’s Night (June 23–24) on the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev.

Program:
The following program is taken from the score: Сбор ведьм, их толки и сплетни (Assembly of the witches, their chatter and gossip) Поезд Сатаны (Cortège of Satan) Чёрная служба, Messe noire (Black service, Black mass) Шабаш (Sabbath)

More details and a variation to this program may be found in a letter written by the composer to Vladimir Nikolsky: “So far as my memory doesn’t deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief — Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches’ praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy. –So this is what I’ve done. At the head of my score I’ve put its content: 1. Assembly of the witches, their talk and gossip; 2. Satan’s journey; 3. Obscene praises of Satan; and 4. Sabbath… The form and character of the composition are both Russian and original”.

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade Symphonic Suite for Orchestra Op.35 – IV. Allegro molto (performed by unknown)

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: ??????? ????????? ???????-????????; Russian pronunciation: [n??k??laj ?r?im.sk??j ?kors?k?f]; 18 March [O.S. 6 March] 1844[a 1] — 21 June [O.S. 8 June] 1908) was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.[a 2] He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects. Rimsky-Korsakov believed, as did fellow composer Mily Balakirev and critic Vladimir Stasov, in developing a nationalistic style of classical music. This style employed Russian folk song and lore along with exotic harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements in a practice known as musical orientalism, and eschewed traditional Western compositional methods. However, Rimsky-Korsakov appreciated Western musical techniques after he became a professor of musical composition, harmony and orchestration at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1871. He undertook a rigorous three-year program of self-education and became a master of Western methods, incorporating them alongside the influences of Mikhail Glinka and fellow members of The Five. His techniques of composition and orchestration were further enriched by his exposure to the works of Richard Wagner. For much of his life, Rimsky-Korsakov combined his composition and teaching with a career in the Russian military—at first as an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, then as the civilian Inspector of Naval Bands. He wrote that he developed a passion for the ocean in childhood from reading books and hearing of his older brother’s exploits in the navy. This love of the sea might have influenced him to write two of his best-known orchestral works, the musical tableau Sadko (not his later opera of the same name) and Scheherazade. Through his service as Inspector of Naval Bands, Rimsky-Korsakov expanded his knowledge of woodwind and brass playing, which enhanced his abilities in orchestration. He passed this knowledge to his students, and also posthumously through a textbook on orchestration that was completed by his son-in-law, Maximilian Steinberg. Rimsky-Korsakov left a considerable body of original Russian nationalist compositions. He prepared works by The Five for performance, which brought them into the active classical repertoire (although there is controversy over his editing of the works of Modest Mussorgsky), and shaped a generation of younger composers and musicians during his decades as an educator. Rimsky-Korsakov is therefore considered “the main architect” of what the classical music public considers the Russian style of composition. His influence on younger composers was especially important, as he served as a transitional figure between the autodidactism which exemplified Glinka and The Five and professionally trained composers which would become the norm in Russia by the closing years of the 19th century. While Rimsky-Korsakov’s style was based on those of Glinka, Balakirev, Hector Berlioz, and Franz Liszt, he “transmitted this style directly to two generations of Russian composers” and influenced non-Russian composers including Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas and Ottorino Respighi.

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Make Music Part of Your Life: Nicolai Glinka – Russlan and Ludmilla Overture – Performance by Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.

Performance by Yevgeny Mravinsky conducting the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.
*****violinthief: “Though most of my uploads are of singing, I am actually an orchestral musician. Here is a recording of one of my favorite conductor/orchestra combinations. The string playing here is second to none.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Glinka
Ruslan and Lyudmila (Russian: Руслан и Людмила, Ruslan i Lyudmila) is an opera in five acts (eight tableaux) composed by Mikhail Glinka between 1837 and 1842. The opera is based on the 1820 poem of the same name byAlexander Pushkin. The Russian libretto was written by Valerian Shirkov, Nestor Kukolnik and N. A. Markevich, among others. Pushkin’s death in the famous duel prevented him from writing the libretto himself as planned. Today, the best-known music from the opera is its overture.

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Make Music Part of Your Life -Series: Nikolaj Rimski-Korsakov – Symphony No.1 in E minor, Op. 1

Nikolaj Rimski-Korsakov – Symphony No.1 in E minor, Op. 1

Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra

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Legendary virtuoso, Kyoko Oyagi, Japanese pianist (International competition Viotti 1st prize) plays Borodin arranged for solo-piano by Kyoko Oyagi.
1999/Tokyo,Japan, Live recording.Most successful Asian descendant pianist of Emil Sauer who combined Franz liszt’s and Russian pianism. Hans Kann’s favorite disciple,大八木恭子.

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) – “Dubinuschka”, op. 62.

[youtube.com/watch?v=buHBcuMu9W4]
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) – “Dubinuschka”, op. 62.

L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet

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GREAT COMPOSERS/COMPOSITIONS: N. Rimsky-Korsakov – The Tale of Tsar Saltan: Suite: Part I

The Tale of Tsar Saltan: Suite from the Opera
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
I. Tsar’s Departure and Farewell

• Buy “Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tale of Tsar Saltan – Suite, Op.57 – 1. The Tsar’s departure and Farewell” on

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Operas[show]
The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Russian: Сказка о царе Салтане, Skazka o Tsare Saltane) is an operain four acts with a prologue, seven scenes, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky, and is based on the poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. The opera was composed in 1899–1900 to coincide with Pushkin’s centenary, and was first performed in 1900 inMoscow, Russia.

The lengthy full title of both the opera and the poem is The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan.

Note: The name “Saltan” is often erroneously rendered “Sultan”. Likewise, another mistranslation of the Russian title found in English makes this a “legend” rather than simply a “tale” or “fairytale”.

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov 

(Russian: Николай Андреевич Римский-Корсаков; Russian pronunciation: [nʲɪkəˌlaj ˌrʲim.skʲɪj ˈkorsəkəf]; 18 March [O.S. 6 March] 1844^{[a 1]} – 21 June [O.S. 8 June] 1908) was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.^{[a 2]} He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas.Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects.

 

Rimsky-Korsakov believed, as did fellow composer Mily Balakirev and critic Vladimir Stasov, in developing a nationalistic style of classical music. This style employed Russian folk song and lore along with exotic harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements in a practice known as musical orientalism, and eschewed traditional Western compositional methods. However, Rimsky-Korsakov appreciated Western musical techniques after he became a professor of musical composition, harmony and orchestration at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1871. He undertook a rigorous three-year program of self-education and became a master of Western methods, incorporating them alongside the influences of Mikhail Glinka and fellow members of The Five. His techniques of composition and orchestration were further enriched by his exposure to the works of Richard Wagner.

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Glazunov – The Seasons Op.67 Autumn：Petit Adagio

Prominent Russians: Aleksandr Glazunov

August 10, 1865 – March 21, 1936

Portrait photo of Aleksandr Glazunov taken by Alfred Fedetsky. 1899, Kharkov, Ukraine

Aleksandr Glazunov was a Russian composer, professor and rector of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. His works of the late Russian Romantic period reconciled nationalism and cosmopolitanism in Russian music.

Child musical prodigy

Glazunov was born into a wealthy merchant family – his father was a prominent publisher and book trader in St. Petersburg. Glazunov’s mother was a good pianist and had a major influence on Aleksandr’s music education. She hired the best piano teachers for her son. To her great satisfaction, Glazunov was an eager student and as early as 13 he revealed a great talent for composition. In 1879 he met Mily Balakirev, one of the founders of the Russian nationalist school of composers known as The Five or The Mighty Handful.

Impressed by Glazunov’s talent, Balakirev recommended him to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a composer and a member of The Five. Rimsky-Korsakov took it upon himself to teach Glazunov the theory of composition, harmony and instrumental accompaniment. Glazunov was a bright student and was able to cover the whole Conservatory program in just a year and a half.

Glazunov composed his first symphony at the age of 16, which was first played at a free school concert. It was also later performed at the Moscow Exhibition, conducted by Rimsky-Korsakov. Glazunov’s symphony was very well received and was followed by other works, which were just as fine as his first piece.

Glazunov with Fedor Chaliapin and Vladimir Stasov
Portrait of Alexander Glazunov.

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• Artist
  Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

 

GREAT PERFORMANCES: Georges Bizet Menuet & Farandole/L’Arlésienne, suite nr. 2 – DR Symfoniorkestret – de Burgos

Georges Bizet (1838-1875) L’Arlésienne, suite nr. 2 (1872): Menuet og Farandole – Danmarks Radio SymfoniOrkestret – Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

 

Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895)

Christmas Eve (Suite)

I. Christmas Night
II. Ballet of the Stars
III. Witches’ Sabbath and Ride on the Devil’s Back
IV. Polonaise
V. Vakula and the Slippers

A thrilling orchestral suite by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on music from the 1895 opera of the same name. The plot of the opera follows the short story “Christmas Eve” from Nikolai Gogol‘s “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka“. The same story also formed the basis of Tchaikovsky’s operas “Vakula the Smith” and “Cherevichki“.

A synopsis of Gogol’s short story is available on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christma…

Conductor: Neeme Järvi
Scottish National Orchestra

 

Fabulous Composers/Compositions: Nikolaj Rimski-Korsakov – Symphony No.1 in E minor, Op. 1

English: Photograph of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March 6 March 1844 – 21 June 8 June 1908) in 1866, when he was in the Russian Navy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nikolaj Rimski-Korsakov – Symphony No.1 in E minor, Op. 1
Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The symphony is written in the traditional four movements.

1. Largo assai—Allegro
2. Andante tranquillo
3. Scherzo. Vivace
4. Allegro assai

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 1 (originally in E-flat minor), between 1861 and 1865 under the guidance of Mily Balakirev. Balakirev also premiered the work at a concert of the Free Music School in December 1865. Rimsky-Korsakov revised the work in 1884.

Fabulous Composers/Compositions: Rimsky-Korsakov – Christmas Eve: Orchestral Suite (1895)

Christmas Eve (Suite)

I. Christmas Night
II. Ballet of the Stars
III. Witches’ Sabbath and Ride on the Devil’s Back
IV. Polonaise
V. Vakula and the Slippers

A thrilling orchestral suite by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on music from the 1895 opera of the same name. The plot of the opera follows the short story “Christmas Eve” from Nikolai Gogol‘s “Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka“. The same story also formed the basis of Tchaikovsky’s operas “Vakula the Smith” and “Cherevichki“.

A synopsis of Gogol’s short story is available on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christma…

 

Fabulous Composers/Compositions: Rimsky-Korsakov – Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36

Also known as The Great Russian Easter Overture, is a concert overture written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov between August 1887 and April 1888, and dedicated to the memories of Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin, two members of the legendary “Mighty Handful“.

It is subtitled “Overture on Liturgical Themes”. It is the last of the composer’s series of three exceptionally brilliant orchestral works, preceded by Capriccio Espagnol and Scheherazade. The work received its premiere in St. Petersburg in late December 1888.

Conductor: Zubin Mehta 
Orchestra: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Picture: Il’ja Efimovič Repin, Easter Procession in the region of Kursk (1880-1883)

 

Borodin – In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880), played on period instruments

In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880)

A “musical tableau” for orchestra by Russian composer and chemist Alexander Borodin (1833-1887), a member of the group of composers known as The Five, or the Mighty Handful. The work was originally intended to celebrate the silver anniversary of the reign of Czar Alexander II, who had expanded the domain of Imperial Russia eastward into Central Asia. The celebration never came to fruition due to the assassination of the Czar; instead the piece was premiered in a concert in 1880 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and the orchestra of the Russian Opera. Borodin dedicated it to Franz Liszt.

This recording was made by conductor Jos van Immerseel and the Anima Eterna Orchestra, which plays on period instruments.

 

The Flight of the Bumblebee. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Juan Pablo Martinez Sierra, cello

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
El vuelo del Moscardón / Hummelflug / Le Vol du Bourdon
From the Opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan“.

Juan Pablo Martínez Sierra, cello / violoncelle
Rodolfo Saglimbeni, conductor / chef d’orchestre
Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia

Arr. for Cello and strings Juan P. Martínez

 

Tchaikovsky : Symphony No.2 in C minor, Op.17 “Little Russian”

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 2 “Little Russian“Royal Concertgebouw OrchestraBernard Haitink

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: 

 

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky‘s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 was composed in 1872. One of Tchaikovsky’s joyful compositions, it was successful right from its premiere and also won the favor of the group of nationalistic Russian composers known as “The Five“, led by Mily Balakirev. Because Tchaikovsky used three Ukrainian folk songs to great effect in this work, it was nicknamed the “Little Russian” (Russian: Малороссийская, Malorossiyskaya) by Nikolay Kashkin, a friend of the composer as well as a well-known musical critic of Moscow.^[1] Ukraine was at that time frequently called “Little Russia“.

1. Andante sostenuto — Allegro vivo (C minor).

   A solo horn playing a Ukrainian variant of “Down by Mother Volga” sets the atmosphere for this movement. Tchaikovsky reintroduces this song in the development section, and the horn sings it once more at the movement’s conclusion. The rather vigorous second subject utilises a melody which would also be used subsequently by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in his Russian Easter Festival Overture. The end of the exposition, in the relative E-flat major, leads straight into the development, in which material from both themes is heard. A long pedal note leads back to the second subject. Unusually, Tchaikovsky does not repeat the first subject theme in its entirety in this section, as is conventional, but instead uses it solely for the coda.

2. Andantino marziale, quasi moderato (E-flat major).

   This movement was originally a bridal march Tchaikovsky wrote for his unpublished opera Undine. He quotes the folk song “Spin, O My Spinner” in the central section.

3. Scherzo. Allegro molto vivace (C minor).

   Fleet and scampering, this movement does not quote an actual folk song but sounds folk song-like in its overall character. It takes the form of a da capo scherzo and trio with a coda.

4. Finale. Moderato assai — Allegro vivo (C major).

   After a brief but expansive fanfare, Tchaikovsky quotes the folk song “The Crane”, subjecting it to an increasingly intricate and colorful variations for orchestra. A more lyrical theme from the strings provides contrast before the symphony ends in a rousing C major conclusion.

Despite its initial success, Tchaikovsky was not satisfied with the symphony.

Rimsky-Korsakov – Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (1888),

Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (1888)

A concert overture by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), based on themes from Russian Orthodox liturgical chant. In particular, Rimsky-Korsakov uses chant melodies from the “Obikhod” collection, referencing a number of biblical passages including Psalm 68 and Mark 16. The intention in this overture is not devotional – indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov was an atheist – but he attempted to capture “the legendary and heathen aspect of the holiday, and the transition from the solemnity and mystery of the evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious celebrations of Easter Sunday morning” (quoted from the composer’s autobiography). The piece is also notable for its use of the unusual 5/2 and 3/1 time signatures.

This recording was made by conductor Jos van Immerseel and the Anima Eterna Orchestra, which plays on period instruments.

 

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34

Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34, is the common Western title for an orchestral work based on Spanish folk melodies and written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. Rimsky-Korsakov originally intended to write the work for a solo violin with orchestra, but later decided that a purely orchestral work would do better justice to the lively melodies. The Russian title is Каприччио на испанские темы (literally, Capriccio on Spanish Themes). The Capriccio consists of five movements and is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes (one doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings.

The work has five movements:

The first movement, Alborada, is a festive and exciting dance, typically from traditional asturian music to celebrate the rising of the sun. It features the clarinet with two solos, and later features a solo violin with a solo similar to the clarinet’s. 

The second movement, Variazioni, begins with a melody in the horn section. Variations of this melody are then repeated by other instruments and sections of the orchestra. 

The third movement, Alborada, presents the same asturian dance as the first movement. The two movements are nearly identical, in fact, except that this movement has a different instrumentation and key. 

The fourth movement, Scena e canto gitano (“Scene and gypsy song”) opens with five cadenzas — first by the horns and trumpets, then solo violin, flute, clarinet, and harp — played over rolls on various percussion instruments. It is then followed by a dance in triple time leading attacca into the final movement. 

The fifth and final movement, Fandango asturiano, is also an energetic dance from the Asturias region of northern Spain. The piece ends with an even more rousing statement of the Alborada theme.

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• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” According To Harry James (operachic.typepad.com)
• Russian Music Examples (russianculcompolicies.wordpress.com)
• Hollywood Bowl Giveaway: Tilson Thomas Conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fourth (kcet.org)