Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: Николай Андреевич Римский-Кор… Read Full Bio ↴Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: Николай Андреевич Римский-Корсаков) 18 March [O.S. 6 March] 1844 – 21 June [O.S. 8 June] 1908) 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. 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.
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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02Pictures At An Exhibition: Cum mortuis in lingua morta - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20121:45Alice Sara Ott
0412 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 6. Juliet As A Young Girl - The Nurse Delivers Juliet's Letter To Romeo (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)0:47Martha Argerich
05The Tale Of Tsar Saltan - Arr. Grigory Feygin: The Flight Of The Bumble-Bee1:09Violin Ensemble of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
07Pictures At An Exhibition: The Market-place At Limoges - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20121:26Alice Sara Ott
1212 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 4. Quarrel (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)1:27Martha Argerich
15Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20120:54Alice Sara Ott
16Incidental Music To Eugene Onegin, Op. 71: Mazurka (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)1:26Martha Argerich
17Polovtsian Dances From Prince Igor: Dance Of The Polovtsian Maidens2:15Александр Порфирьевич Бородин
18Romeo And Juliet, Ballet Suite, Op.64a, No.2: 1. The Montagues and the Capulets1:29Brussels Philharmonic
20Pictures At An Exhibition: Promenade - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20120:54Alice Sara Ott
23Pictures At An Exhibition: Tuileries - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20120:59Alice Sara Ott
24Pictures At An Exhibition (Orch. Ravel): 5. Ballet Of The Unhatched Chicks1:08Wiener Philharmoniker
25Incidental Music To Eugene Onegin, Op. 71: Polka (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)1:32Martha Argerich
3112 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 3. Morning Dance (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)1:40Martha Argerich
3512 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 1. Prologue (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)1:41Martha Argerich
36Pictures At An Exhibition (Orch. Ravel): 6. Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuÿle2:21Wiener Philharmoniker
38Pictures At An Exhibition: Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum) - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20122:22Alice Sara Ott
3912 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 10. Dance Of Five Couples (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)1:44Martha Argerich
4112 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 8. Dance With Mandolines (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)2:12Martha Argerich
4712 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 9. Aubade (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)2:18Martha Argerich
51Pictures At An Exhibition: The Hut On Chicken's Legs (Baba-Yaga) - Live At Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg / 20123:30Alice Sara Ott
52The Queen Of Spades, Op. 70: Polonaise (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)2:21Martha Argerich
59Cinderella, Op.87: 31. Promenade - 40. First galop of the Prince & 4. The father2:44Brussels Philharmonic
63The Golden Cockerel Act 1: King Dodon's throne room: Hymn To The Sun (Arr. by Fritz Kreisler)4:17Lamar Crowson
64The Golden Cockerel - Suite (Le coq d'or) - Arr. By A. Glazunov (1865-1936) And M. Steinberg (1883-1946): 2. Tsar Dodon On Campaign4:14Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
73Pushkin Waltzes, Op. 120: Pushkin Waltz In C Sharp Minor (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)2:57Martha Argerich
7512 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 5. Gavotte (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)3:38Martha Argerich
7612 Movements From Romeo And Juliet, Op. 64: 2. Montagues And Capulets (Transcription For 2 Pianos By Sergei Babayan)3:39Martha Argerich
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Romantic Vol.1
Nemanja Radulović Lyrics
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