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Rimsky-Korsakov
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Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the better-travelled composers of his generation. Between 1862 and 1865, as an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, he visited Britain (where he wrote the slow movement of his First Symphony in a pub in East London), New York, Rio de Janeiro and Cadiz. So when, in 1887, he set about writing an orchestral work on Spanish melodies, he had some idea what he was dealing with – at least, unlike Claude Debussy, who wrote his Ibéria in 1908, he’d actually visited Spain! A fascination with the South was a common trait amongst Russian composers; Glinka had written an overture on the Jota Aragonesa and Tchaikovsky’s love of Italy inspired his Capriccio Italien and Souvenir de Florence. But for Rimsky-Korsakov, the master of orchestral colour, who wrote rapturously in his autobiography of the colours and warmth of the southern night, the idea of Spain must have held a special allure.
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Rimsky-Korsakov was a prolific composer. Like his compatriot Cui, his greatest efforts were expended on his operas. There are fifteen operas to his credit, including Kashchey the Immortal and The Tale of Tsar Saltan. The subjects of the operas range from historical melodramas like The Tsar's Bride, to folk operas, such as May Night, to fairytales and legends like Snowmaiden.
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Rimsky-Korsakov composed both Scheherazade and the Russian Easter Overture in 1888. They were among the last major orchestral works he would compose. In his memoirs he conceded that they "close a period of my work, at the end of which my orchestration had attained a considerable degree of virtuosity and warm sonority." Scheherazade, a "Symphonie Suite" based on the tales of The Thousand and One Arabian Nights, is one of the most popular and widely performed works in the symphonic repertoire. The solo violin (here seductively played by prinicipal violinist Cecylia Arzewski) takes the part of the murderous Sultan’s young wife, weaving tale after tale through 1,001 nights in order to avert her execution at her husband’s hands.
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F[O]llowing the death of Tchaikovsky (1893-1908), Rimsky-Korsakov experienced a musical rebirth. In place of his friend, he went on to conduct the remainder of the season with the Russian Symphony. He began composing quite productively again and ... continued his work on revisions of other scores. He devoted his efforts primarily to the genre of opera.
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Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov was born in a noble family [W]ith naval traditions. The composer's elder brother Voin Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a famous navigator and reformer of naval education. Life of Nikolay was ... connected with the sea. But his early devotion to music finally prevailed, making music his main occupation and leaving his marine experience a chance to be heard in his symphonic compositions.
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The Garritan Interactive "Principles of Orchestration" by Rimsky-Korsakov is offered as a courtesy and may be withdrawn at any time. Garritan reserves the right to charge for hardopy and other versions and media of the material. You are allowed to use this material for personal education purposes only. It excludes any commercial use (including professional or promotional uses) without written permission. No image, artwork, score, textual contents, sound files, mp3s, MIDI files or other material on this web site may be copied, reproduced, displayed, altered, posted, transmitted, sold or distributed in whole or in part, or for any purpose other than individual viewing of this web site, without the express prior written consent of Garritan Corp. None of the demos may be copied, reproduced, displayed, altered, posted, transmitted, distributed, or linked in whole or in part, for any purpose other than individual learning without the express prior written consent of Garritan. No part of the materials may be copied for resale or other commercial use, or included with other software, or posted on other public bulletin boards, web sites or online venues without written permission.
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