Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908) was a Russian composer, 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 in developing a nationalistic style of classical music, as did his fellow composer Mily Balakirev and the critic Vladimir Stasov. 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. 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. Rimsky-Korsakov's 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 armed forces—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 may have influenced him to write two of his best-known orchestral works, the musical tableau Sadko (not to be confused with his later opera of the same name) and Scheherazade. 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". His influence on younger composers was especially important, as he served as a transitional figure between the autodidactism exemplified by Glinka and The Five, and professionally trained composers, who became 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, Franz Liszt and, for a brief period, Wagner, 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. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 271 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | B-10808 | 10-in. | 7/19/1911 | Song of the shepherd Lehl | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-12099 | 10-in. | 6/10/1912 | Chanson indoue | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-12973 | 10-in. | 3/8/1913 | Romance orientale | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with piano and violin obbligato | composer | |
Victor | C-14260 | 12-in. | 12/31/1913 | Liuba's air | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-14548 | 10-in. | 3/7/1914 | Aller au bois | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-15300 | 10-in. | 10/22/1914 | Chanson indoue | Lucy Isabelle Marsh | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-15897 | 10-in. | 4/15/1915 | Slumber song | Beatrice Harrison | Cello solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-15945 | 12-in. | 4/23/1915 | Finale atto 3 | Paul Althouse ; Margarethe Arndt-Ober | Vocal duet (contralto and tenor), with orchestra | orchestrator | |
Victor | B-16126 | 10-in. | 6/22/1915 | Chanson hindoue | Florentine Quartet | Instrumental quartet, with bells | composer | |
Victor | B-17026 | 10-in. | 1/18/1916 | Vostochnyĭ romans (Восточный романс) | Nina Dimitrieff | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-17813 | 10-in. | 6/7/1916 | A song of India | Hans Kindler | Cello solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | B-20025 | 10-in. | 6/7/1917 | Chanson indoue | Maud Powell | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | B-20087 | 10-in. | 6/25/1917 | Romance orientale | Alma Gluck | Soprano vocal solo, with violin and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-21308 | 10-in. | 12/26/1917 | Romance orientale | Cherniavsky Trio | Instrumental trio | composer | |
Victor | B-21942 | 10-in. | 5/31/1918 | Hymne au soleil | Mabel Garrison | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-22639 | 12-in. | 3/20/1919 | Hymn to the sun | Mischa Elman | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | B-22806 | 10-in. | 4/28/1919 | A Hindoo love song | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-22810 | 12-in. | 5/5/1919 | Festival in Baghdad | Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BVE-22869 | 10-in. | 12/6/1928 | Hindou chant | Fritz Kreisler | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | B-22869 | 10-in. | 5/22/1919 | Chanson indoue | Fritz Kreisler | Violin solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-23559 | 10-in. | 12/29/1919 | Chanson hindoue | Maud Powell | Violin solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-24629 | 12-in. | 10/18/1920 | Young prince and the young princess | Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-25133 | 12-in. | 3/31/1921 | Hymn to the sun | Fritz Kreisler | Violin solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | BVE-25322 | 10-in. | 8/26/1926 | Song of India | Paul Whiteman Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Victor | B-25322 | 10-in. | 5/31/1921 | Song of India | Paul Whiteman Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay," accessed November 2, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102531.
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 2, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102531.
"Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 2 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Николай Андреевич Римский‐Корсаков
Discogs: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Allmusic: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Apple Music: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
IMSLP: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
RILM: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
RISM: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
IMDb: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Britannica: Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay, 1844-1908 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79107991
Wikidata: Николай Андреевич Римский‐Корсаков - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q93227
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/73859252
MusicBrainz: Николай Андреевич Римский‐Корсаков - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/4cfe7051-f649-4d07-83b3-7a732abe7249
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