   #copyright

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Performers and composers

   Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: Николай Андреевич
   Римский-Корсаков, Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay,
   Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, ( March 6 (N.S. March 18), 1844 – June 8
   (N.S. June 21) 1908) was a Russian composer, one of five Russian
   composers known as The Five, and was later a teacher of harmony and
   orchestration. He is particularly noted for a predilection for folk and
   fairy-tale subjects, and for his extraordinary skill in orchestration,
   which may have been influenced by his synesthesia.

Biography

   Born at Tikhvin, 200 km east of St. Petersburg, into an aristocratic
   family, Rimsky-Korsakov showed musical ability from an early age, but
   studied at the Russian Imperial Naval College in St. Petersburg and
   subsequently joined the Russian Navy. It was only when he met Mily
   Balakirev in 1861 that he began to concentrate more seriously on music.
   Balakirev encouraged him to compose and taught him when he was not at
   sea. (A fictionalized episode of Rimsky-Korsakov's navy service forms
   the plot of the motion picture Song of Scheherazade, the musical score
   adapted by Miklós Rózsa.) Through Balakirev he also met the other
   composers of the group that were to become known as " The Mighty
   Handful" (better known in English-speaking countries as "The Five").
   While in the navy (partly on a world cruise), Rimsky-Korsakov completed
   his first symphony (1861-1865). This is sometimes claimed to be the
   first symphony by a Russian, but Anton Rubinstein composed his own
   first symphony in 1850. Before resigning his commission in 1873,
   Rimsky-Korsakov also completed the first version of his well known
   orchestral piece Sadko ( 1867) and the opera The Maid of Pskov ( 1872).
   These three are among several early works which the composer revised
   later in life.
   Nadezhda Purgold, wife of the composer.
   Nadezhda Purgold, wife of the composer.

   In 1871, despite being largely group- and self-educated within The Five
   rather than being conservatory-trained, Rimsky-Korsakov became
   professor of composition and orchestration at the St Petersburg
   Conservatory. The next year he married Nadezhda Nikolayevna Purgol'd (
   1848- 1919), who was also a pianist and composer. During his first few
   years at the Conservatory, Rimsky-Korsakov assiduously studied harmony
   and counterpoint in order to make up for the lack of such thorough
   training during his years with The Five.

   In 1883 Rimsky-Korsakov worked under Balakirev in the Court Chapel as a
   deputy. This post gave him the chance to study Russian Orthodox church
   music. He worked there until 1894. He also became a conductor, leading
   symphony concerts sponsored by Mitrofan Belyayev (M. P. Belaieff), as
   well as some programs abroad.
   Rimsky-Korsakov's grave at Tikhvin Cemetery.
   Rimsky-Korsakov's grave at Tikhvin Cemetery.

   In 1905 Rimsky-Korsakov was removed from his professorship in St
   Petersburg owing to his expressing some political views of which the
   authorities disapproved. This sparked a series of resignations by his
   fellow faculty members, and he was eventually reinstated. The political
   controversy continued with his opera The Golden Cockerel (Le Coq d'Or)
   ( 1906- 1907), whose implied criticism of monarchy upset the censors to
   the point that the premiere was delayed until 1909, after the
   composer's death.

   Towards the end of his life, Rimsky-Korsakov suffered from angina. He
   died in Lyubensk in 1908, and was interred in Tikhvin Cemetery at the
   Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. His widow Nadezhda spent
   the rest of her life preserving the composer's legacy.

   The Rimsky-Korsakovs had seven children: Mikhail (b.1873), Sofia
   (b.1875), Andrey (1878-1940), Vladimir (b.1882), Nadezhda (b.1884),
   Margarita (1888-1893), and Slavchik (1889-1890). Their daughter
   Nadezhda married the Russian composer Maximilian Steinberg in 1908.
   Andrey was a musicologist who wrote a multi-volume study of his
   father's life and work, which included a chapter devoted to his mother,
   Nadezhda. A nephew, Georgy Mikhaylovich Rimsky-Korsakov ( 1901- 1965),
   was also a composer.

Legacy

   Portrait of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov by Valentin Serov (1898)
   Portrait of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov by Valentin Serov ( 1898)

   In his decades at the Conservatory Rimsky-Korsakov taught many
   composers who would later find fame, including Alexander Glazunov,
   Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Ottorino Respighi, and Artur Kapp.

   Rimsky-Korsakov's legacy goes far beyond his compositions and his
   teaching career. His tireless efforts in editing the works of other
   members of The Five are significant, if controversial. These include
   the completion of Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor (with Alexander
   Glazunov), orchestration of passages from César Cui's William Ratcliff
   for the first production in 1869, and the complete orchestration of
   Alexander Dargomyzhsky's swansong, The Stone Guest. This effort was a
   practical extension of the fact that Rimsky-Korsakov's early works had
   been under the intense scrutiny of Balakirev and that the members of
   The Five during the 1860s and 1870s experienced each other's
   compositions-in-progress and even collaborated at times.

   While the effort for his colleagues is laudable, it is not without its
   problems for musical reception. In particular, after the death of
   Modest Mussorgsky in 1881, Rimsky-Korsakov took on the task of revising
   and completing several of Mussorgsky's pieces for publication and
   performance. In some cases these versions helped to spread Mussorgsky's
   works to the West, but Rimsky-Korsakov has been accused of pedantry for
   "correcting" matters of harmony, etc., in the process.
   Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement of Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain is
   the version generally performed today. However, critical opinion of
   Mussorgsky has changed over time so that his style, once considered
   unpolished, is now valued for its originality. This has caused some of
   Rimsky-Korsakov's other revisions, such as that of Boris Godunov, to
   fall out of favour and be replaced by productions more faithful to
   Mussorgsky's original manuscripts.

   Although his operas are seldom performed outside of Russia, the music
   has been widely performed and recorded through the orchestral suites
   that he compiled from the scores, particularly in the case of Mlada,
   Tsar Saltan, and Le Coq d'Or. The music of his last opera is remarkably
   modern for its time and the four-movement suite extracted from its
   score has enjoyed considerable popularity via concerts and recordings.

   His autobiography and his books on harmony and orchestration have been
   translated into English and published, providing remarkable insights
   into his life and work.

Synesthesia

   Rimsky-Korsakov perceived colors associated with major keys as follows
   :
   Tonic note       Colour
   C          white
   D          yellow
   Eb         dark bluish-grey
   E          sparkling sapphire
   F          green
   G          rich gold
   A          rosy colored

Overview of compositions

   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. In their juxtaposed depictions of the real
   and the fantastic, the operas invoke folk melodies, realistic
   declamation, lyrical melodies, and artificially constructed harmonies
   with effective orchestral expression. Most of Rimsky-Korsakov's operas
   remain in the standard repertoire in Russia to this day. The best known
   selections from the operas that are known in the West are "Dance of the
   Tumblers" from Snowmaiden, "Procession of the Nobles" from Mlada, "Song
   of the Indian Guest" (or, less accurately, "Song of India,") from
   Sadko, and " Flight of the Bumblebee" from Tsar Saltan, as well as
   suites from The Golden Cockerel and The Legend of the Invisible City of
   Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya

   Nevertheless, Rimsky-Korsakov's status in the West has long been based
   on his orchestral compositions, most famous among which are Capriccio
   espagnol, Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite
   Scheherazade. In addition, he composed dozens of art songs,
   arrangements of folk songs, some chamber and piano music, and a
   considerable number of choral works, both secular and for Russian
   Orthodox Church service, including settings of portions of the Liturgy
   of St. John Chrysostom.

Major literary works

     * My Musical Life. [Летопись моей музыкальной жизни -- literally,
       Chronicle of My Musical Life.] Trans. from the 5th rev. Russian ed.
       by Judah A. Joffe; ed. with an introduction by Carl Van Vechten.
       London : Ernst Eulenburg Ltd, 1974.
     * Practical Manual of Harmony. [Практический учебник гармонии.] First
       published, in Russian, in 1885. First English edition published by
       Carl Fischer in 1930, trans. from the 12th Russian ed. by Joseph
       Achron. Current English ed. by Nicholas Hopkins, New York, NY: C.
       Fischer, 2005.
     * Principles of Orchestration. [Основы оркестровки.] Begun in 1873
       and completed posthumously by Maximilian Steinberg in 1912, first
       published, in Russian, in 1922 ed. by Maximilian Steinberg. English
       trans. by Edward Agate; New York: Dover Publications, 1964
       ("unabridged and corrected republication of the work first
       published by Edition russe de musique in 1922").

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
