Mainly known for his symphonic works, especially the
popular symphonic suite Sheherazade, as well as the
Capriccio Espagnol and the Russian Easter Festival
Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov left an oeuvre that also
included operas, chamber works, and songs.
Rimsky-Korsakov's music is accessible and engaging
owing to his talent for tone-coloring and brilliant
orchestration. Furthermore, his operas are masterful
musical evocations of myths and legends.
Born in 1844, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov studi...(+)
Mainly known for his symphonic works, especially the
popular symphonic suite Sheherazade, as well as the
Capriccio Espagnol and the Russian Easter Festival
Overture, Rimsky-Korsakov left an oeuvre that also
included operas, chamber works, and songs.
Rimsky-Korsakov's music is accessible and engaging
owing to his talent for tone-coloring and brilliant
orchestration. Furthermore, his operas are masterful
musical evocations of myths and legends.
Born in 1844, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov studied the piano
as a child but chose a naval career, entering the
College of Naval Cadets in St. Petersburg in 1856.
However, he continued with piano lessons; in fact, in
1859, Rimsky-Korsakov started working with the French
pianist Theodore Canille, through whom he met
Balakirev, an important mentor and friend.
As inspector of the Russian Navy's bands during the
1870s, Rimsky-Korsakov was inspired to teach himself
the rudiments of the brass and woodwind instruments. By
his own account, he was an execrable player, but he did
gain a sufficiently thorough understanding of the
instruments to write three concertos for solo brass or
woodwind and wind orchestra. He did it in part, he
wrote, "to teach myself to handle a style of virtuosity
till then unknown to me with solos, cadenzas, tuttis,
etc." The last of these three works was the clarinet
concerto. In rehearsal with the Kronstadt naval band,
he decided the accompaniment was too heavy, so he
withdrew the piece, and it was never performed in his
lifetime. A tiny concerto at only about seven minutes
long, the work nevertheless falls into the standard
three movements, played without interruption. The
Allegro moderato employs folk-like themes, but these
sing out only in the dark-hued band accompaniment with
the soloist's part twirling, spinning, and taking wide
leaps no Russian folksinger would attempt. The Andante
begins with a fragmentary cadenza based on the first
movement's main theme, then proceeds with a lyrical
tune over a gently oom-pah accompaniment; the movement
would fit naturally into any ballet of the period. The
finale, Allegro moderato, emerges from another,
slightly more extended cadenza and revisits material
from the first movement, now cast as a lilting waltz.
Although this piece was originally written for Bb
Clarinet & Wind Orchestra, I created this arrangement
for Woodwind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet &
Bassoon).
PARTITION