NIKOLAY RImsKY~KORsakov Nikolay RImsKY-KORsakov PIANO DUOS Although Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov composed in most of the usual forms, it is for his operas and orchestral works that he is chiefly remembered. It is also in these Artur Pizarro & Vita Panomariovaite compositions that his best music is to be found. He did compose choral works, chamber and instrumental music and songs but this part of his output is neither widely known Scheherazade Op.35 about by the general music lover nor thought very highly of by the musicologist. (arr. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov) Indeed, gerald Abraham, a prolific biographer of the composer, when writing for the 1 I: Largo e maestoso 11.18 New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (macmillan, 1980) claimed that Rimsky- 2 II: Lento 11.24 Korsakov’s solo piano compositions, although including some well-made fugues, are, 3 III: Andantino quasi allegretto 10.32 ‘like the handful of chamber works, negligible in value.’ In his book – Six Great Russian 4 IV: Allegro molto 13.14 Composers (Rockliff, 1946) – Donald Brook also suggested that several of the minor works Rimsky-Korsakov produced, in particular the piano pieces, were ‘absolutely 5 Sadko Op.5 11.52 (arr. Nadezhda Nikolayevna Rimskaya-Korsakova) devoid of the vivid spontaneity that characterizes so much of his music’. Apart from the aforementioned fugues, the piano works include two or three sets of variations Capriccio Espagnol Op.34 (one on a theme by the composer’s eldest son, misha), various preludes, scherzos (arr. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov) and the like, and, written in collaboration with Borodin, Cui, Liadov and others, a set 6 I: Alborada 1.17 of Paraphrases on that irritating little tune known in english as ‘chopsticks’ and in 7 II: Variazioni 4.19 Russian as Táti-táti. 8 III: Alborada 1.20 Rimsky-Korsakov had started taking piano lessons at the age of six but, 9 IV: Scena e canto gitano 5.24 before long, it became obvious that his main interest was not in original piano music 10 V: Fandango asturiana 3.40 but in transcriptions for piano of excerpts from famous operas. These he would play by himself or as duets with his teachers. one of his earliest attempts at composition Total RuNNINg TIme 74.20 – in 1855 – took the form of what he called a ‘sort of overture for the piano’ which, Recorded at Teatro Säo Luiz, Lisbon, Portugal – 30th September, 1st & 2nd october 2006 although never finished, apparently gave him great pleasure. In his autobiography, Produced by Philip Hobbs My Musical Life (Faber and Faber 1989), he described how it was the form of the piece Engineered by Julia Thomas that pleased him most for it was to start adagio and then gradually speed up through Post-Production at Finesplice, uK andante, moderato, allegretto and allegro, finally arriving atpresto . Photographs of Artur Pizarro and Vita Panomariovaite by Sven Arnstein In addition to his love of music, the young Rimsky-Korsakov had a passion Photo of Rimsky-Korsakov c.1895 courtesy AKg Images Artur Pizarro’s Worldwide management: www.tomcroxonmanagement.co.uk for all things nautical and, despite the fact that he had not yet so much as set eyes Steinway D prepared by Nigel Polmear on the sea, he was determined to follow in the footsteps of his brother and become 2 3 a sailor; the elder by twenty-two years, Voyin Rimsky-Korsakov was, by then, a naval had lived in Novgorod during the twelfth century and around whom many legends lieutenant. In July 1856, Nikolay enrolled for a period of six years as a cadet at the had grown up. It seems that the idea of transforming one of these legends into music Naval College in St Petersburg at which his brother was later to become the Director. came originally from Stassov who had suggested it to Balakirev who had then passed During this time he did not neglect his music but continued with his piano lessons, it to mussorgsky who eventually handed it on to Rimsky-Korsakov. his most influential teacher being Théodore Canille. under Canille’s tuition Rimsky- Work on this new piece was begun on 26 July 1867 while the composer was Korsakov learnt to appreciate the music of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, staying with his brother in Vyborg. Before long, however, his naval duties required mendelssohn and Chopin and improved his expertise as a piano duettist. It was also him to embark on a month’s cruise in the gulf of Finland so it was not until october Canille who introduced him to mily Alexeyevich Balakirev. that Sadko was completed. As Rimsky-Korsakov explained in a letter to mussorgsky: Rimsky-Korsakov was immediately impressed by Balakirev both as a ‘Sadko was finished on 12 october and has already been sent to the binder’s. I’ll tell person and as a musician. For his part, Balakirev saw in the young naval cadet a you that I am entirely pleased with it, this is decidedly the best thing I’ve done. To promising composer and straightaway, as was his wont, started to take charge of you modest, profound thanks are due for the idea you suggested to me at Cui’s, on his new protégé’s musical life. Having shown Balakirev a symphony he had been the eve of [Cui’s wife] malvina’s departure for minsk. Thanks once again. Now I shall working on, Rimsky-Korsakov was instructed to continue with it. This he did under pause, for my noddle has been played out a bit from the strenuous exertion. mily Balakirev’s supervision until November 1862 when he was sent as a midshipman [Balakirev] is decidedly pleased with Sadko and did not want to make any remarks.’ on the clipper Almuz for a voyage which, over the next two or three years, was to (Rimsky-Korsakov was to return to the story of Sadko in the 1890s when he created take him half way across the world. Despite this separation from his new musical an opera on the subject.) friends - he had also by then met fellow composers modest mussorgsky and César Rimsky-Korsakov has also left a detailed description both of the programme Cui and the influential critic, Vladimir Vasiliyevich Stassov - Rimsky-Korsakov was he had in mind when dealing with Sadko in orchestral terms and of the various still encouraged to keep working on his symphony. Indeed, Balakirev wrote to him compositions that had inspired him while composing it. ‘The introduction - picture of insisting he should make progress with its slow movement. By then the Almuz had the calmly surging sea – contains the harmonic and modulatory basis of the beginning arrived in London and, in his autobiography, Rimsky-Korsakov tells how, without a of Liszt’s ‘Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne’, he explained. ‘The beginning of the Allegro, piano on board, he had to play through what he had written on pianos he found in depicting Sadko’s fall into the sea and his being dragged to the depths by the Sea King, the public houses of gravesend. is, in method, reminiscent of the moment when Ludmilla is spirited away by Chernomor Back in St Petersburg in September 1865 he rejoined the Balakirev circle, in Act I of [glinka’s opera] Ruslan and Ludmilla... The D major movement depicting the completed his symphony and was present when Balakirev himself conducted its feast in the Sea King’s realm, harmonically and to a certain degree melodically as well, highly successful first performance on 31 December. It was at about that time that recalls partly Balakirev’s Song of the Goldfish, which was then a favourite of mine, and Rimsky-Korsakov was introduced to the chemist and composer, Alexander Borodin, the introduction to Rusalka’s recitative in Act IV of Dargomyzhsky’s opera Rusalka. who along with Balakirev, Cui, mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov was to form the The dance theme of the third movement, as well as the cantabile theme following group referred to by Stassov as ‘the mighty Handful’. Some eighteen months after that it, is entirely original. The variations on these two themes passing into a gradually first performance of his symphony, Rimsky-Korsakov started work on what he called a swelling storm were composed partly under the influence of certain passages in ‘musical picture’. The subject for this new composition was Sadko, a rich merchant who Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz, partly as representing certain echoes of Balakirev’s Tamara... 4 5 The closing movement of Sadko, as well as its introductory movement, ends with a n 1873 Rimsky-Korsakov was given the opportunity to combine his two careers beautiful chord passage of independent origin.’ Iwhen he was appointed Inspector of Naval Bands. He took this position very seriously The first performance ofSadko took place, under the baton of Balakirev, on 9 and, knowing that he still had a lot to learn, took with him on holiday that year several December 1867 and, according to the composer, went off well with the orchestration musical instruments - including a flute, a clarinet and a trombone – so that he could, if satisfying everybody present. Such was the audience’s appreciation the composer was not actually learn to play them, learn how they were played. over the years he gained called back to the stage several times. When the piece was performed again two years further expertise in orchestration by orchestrating works by those of his friends and later in a slightly revised form, Borodin referred to it as ‘a delight’ and the critic, contempories who had died prematurely; works such as Dargomyzhsky’s The Stone Alexander Nikolayevich Serov, who was generally antagonistic towards contemporary Guest, mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov and Borodin’s Prince Igor.