It took Borodin almost five years to write his first symphony and the composition of 'Symphony No. 2' was to take just as much time. One should not forget however that music was mainly a leisure activity for the professor of organic chemistry in St. Petersburg.His work on 'Prince Igor' begun after the world premiere of Symphony No. 1 finished in favour of the second symphony but part of the musical material found its way into the new composition and even the extant programme testifies to the critical analysis of the music theatre: the gathering of Russian warriors in the first movement the Old Slavonic bard in the andante and the party scene to the sounds of the gusli inthe finale.

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