Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay (Andreyevich) (b Tikhvin, 1844; d Lyubensk, 1908). Russ. composer and cond. Born into aristocratic family and had conventional mus. education. Ambition to be sailor; entered Corps of Naval Cadets 1856 in St Petersburg, where he had pf. lessons and attended opera and concerts. Nationalist works of Glinka deeply impressed him and he met and was influenced by Balakirev. Wrote part of a sym., though ignorant of names of chords and of rules of part-writing. Away at sea 1862–5. Completed sym. 1865, first of importance by Russ. composer. In 1865–8 wrote Sadko and Antar, both later rev. In 1869 was entrusted with completion of Dargomyzhsky's opera The Stone Guest and in 1872 completed his own opera The Maid of Pskov. In 1871, while still a naval lieutenant and still unlearned in harmony and counterpoint, was appointed prof. of practical comp. and instrumentation, St Petersburg Cons. Taught himself in secret. Inspector of Naval Bands, 1873–84. For several years as part of his self-education prod. ‘academic’ comps. incl. str. qt., pf. quintet, pf. fugues, etc. His editing of 100 Russian Folk-Songs, 1876–7, led him to a new, more attractive phase in his own works, incl. the operas May Night and Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden). From 1874–81 was dir. of the Free School of Mus. After 1882 much occupied with administration, cond., and rev. and orchestration of Khovanshchina and other works by Mussorgsky. When Borodin died in 1887, completion and orch. of Prince Igor was undertaken by Rimsky-Korsakov and his pupil Glazunov. Rimsky interrupted this to write 2 of his most colourful works, the Spanish Caprice and Sheherazade. Thereafter, influenced by the first Russ. perfs. in 1888–9 of Wagner's Ring, devoted himself to opera. For a time, neurasthenic illness robbed him of the will to work, but he resumed creative work in the 1890s and in 1896 made his version of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov which, though it is now partly discredited, preserved this opera until scholars restored the composer's orig. In 1905, having shown sympathy with revolutionary students, was temporarily removed from his professorship at St Petersburg Cons. and a 2-month ban imposed on perf. of his works. This clash with authority is reflected in his last and satirical opera, The Golden Cockerel, which was banned by the govt. and not prod. until after his death. In 1906, rev. Boris Godunov, and in 1907 cond. in Paris at Diaghilev's concerts of Russ. mus.

Less talented than his colleagues in the nationalist school, Rimsky-Korsakov excelled them all in the art of clear and colourful orchestration, and to us today his mus. seems to epitomize the brilliance and pageantry of Tsarist Russia. Lately the splendour of his operas has been re-discovered. His influence on his most distinguished pupil, Stravinsky, can be discerned above all in The Firebird. Wrote textbooks on harmony and orchestration, also autobiography. Prin. comps.:OPERAS: The Maid of Pskov (Ivan the Terrible) (1868–72, rev. 1876–7, rev. 1891–2); May Night (1878–9); Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) (1880–1, rev. c.1895); Mlada (1889–90); Christmas Eve (1894–5); Sadko (1894–6); Mozart and Salieri (1897); Boyarina Vera Sheloga (comp. 1876–7 as prol. to Maid of Pskov, reconstructed as 1-act opera 1898); The Tsar's Bride (1898); The Legend of Tsar Saltan (1899–1900); Servilia (1900–1); Kashchey the Immortal (1901–2, rev. 1906); Pan Voyevoda (1902–3); Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia (1903–5); The Golden Cockerel (1906–7).ORCH.: syms.: No.1 in E♭ minor (1861–5, rev. in E minor 1884), No.2 (Antar, 1868, rev. 1876 and 1897, symphonic suite 1903), No.3 in C (1866–73, rev. 1885–6); Overture on 3 Russian Themes (1866, rev. 1879–80); Fantasia on Serbian Themes (1867, reorch. 1886–7); Sadko, symphonic picture (1867, rev. 1869, 1891; see also opera); conc., tb., military band (1877); Sinfonietta on Russian Themes, str. qt. (1897; rev. and orch. 1880–4); Skazka (Legend) (1879–80); pf. conc. (1882–3); Fantasia on Russian Themes, vn., orch. (1886); Spanish Caprice (1887); Sheherazade (1888); Russian Easter Festival Overture (1888); Dubinushka (1905).CHORAL: Alexey the Man of God, ch., orch. (1877); Svitezyanka, cantata (1897); Song of Oleg the Wise, cantata (1899); From Homer (1901).CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qt. (1875); str. sextet (1876); pf. quintet (pf., wind) (1876); Allegro in B♭, str. qt. (1899)TRANSCRIPTIONS etc.: BORODIN: Prince Igor, orch. and completed (with Glazunov), prod. 1890; MUSSORGSKY: Boris Godunov, re-orch. 1896, rev. 1906, Khovanshchina, rev. and orch. 1882–5; DARGOMYZHSKY: The Stone Guest, orch. and completed 1870–1, rev. 1902.Also songs, chs., folk-song arrs. and pf. pieces.

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer, conductor, and pedagogue, was a member of the Russian "Mighty Five." He was largely responsible for establishing the rigor and uncompromising professionalism of the Russian school of the turn of the century.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was born in the town of Tikhvin near Novgorod on March 6, 1844. His father had served prominently in the provincial government, and, although the boy showed an early musical talent, he was duly entered in the St. Petersburg Naval Academy at the age of 12. While there he took violoncello lessons and later piano lessons from Feodor Kanille (Théodore Canillé), who encouraged his efforts at composition.

About 1861 Kanille introduced the young cadet to the circle of talented dilettantes who depended on Mili Balakirev for professional advice and guidance. This "Balakirev Circle" sought a Russian-based expression on the model of Mikhail Glinka. Its prominent members— Balakirev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Aleksandr Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, and César Cui, became what the critic Vladimir Stasov much later called the "Mighty Handful" or "Mighty Five."

From 1862 through 1865 Rimsky-Korsakov cruised around the world with the Russian navy. His First Symphony, composed during this trip, was performed upon his return by Balakirev, who conducted the orchestra of the Free Music School, which he had founded.

Rimsky-Korsakov now devoted less time to navy affairs. He composed the symphonic poem Sadko (1867), returning to the theme much later for an opera, and the Second (Antar) Symphony (1868). In 1871 he became a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and in 1873 he resigned his naval commission. From 1874 to 1881 he directed the Free School, and he served as director of navy bands until 1884. He became convinced of the need for professional training, professional mastery, and a professional attitude. He embarked on a thorough study of harmony, counterpoint, and especially orchestration and urged a similar course on his colleagues. He published a harmony text in 1884 and an orchestration text in 1896. He displayed his orchestral expertise in his Third Symphony (1874) and in the delightful tone poems Capriccio español (1887), Scheherazade (1888), and Dubinushka (1905). But most of his energy went into his operas, the most important of which are Snow Maiden (1882), Sadko (1898), The Invisible City of Kitezh (1907), and The Golden Cockerel (1909). The sources for these and other works were fairy stories, Eastern tales, and Russian folk epics.

During the political unrest of 1905 Rimsky-Korsakov vigorously protested police repression of the students. The conservatory was closed down and he was dismissed. Others, including Alexander Glazunov, resigned in protest. The conservatory eventually reopened on a more autonomous basis with Glazunov as director and Rimsky-Korsakov as head of the department of orchestration.

The orchestral color and the beguiling, if not authentic, "orientalisms" of Rimsky-Korsakov's work brought him considerable fame and popularity. He was by far the most prolific of the Five, with a long list of orchestral works, 15 operas, and a substantial amount of chamber and vocal music. Moreover, his major works were divisible with no great musical loss into small sections which could be put to utility concert and "background" use. Perhaps no less a contribution was his effort on the behalf of others' music: he finished, rewrote, and orchestrated many works of other Russian composers, including Alexander Dargomyzhsky's Stone Guest, Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov, and (with Glazunov) Borodin's Prince Igor.

Rimsky-Korsakov died on June 21, 1908. His establishment of professional mastery of technique as the exclusive route to musical legitimacy is a legacy still preserved in Russia.

Further Reading

Rimsky-Korsakov's own My Musical Life (1909; trans. 1924; new ed. 1942) is basic. M. D. Calvocoressi and Gerald Abraham devote a chapter to Rimsky-Korsakov in their Masters of Russian Music (1936). Essentially the same chapter was published by Abraham as Rimsky-Korsakov: A Short Biography (1945). Any music history, especially an account of the romantic era, will contain a section on Rimsky-Korsakov. The most recent reference is Mikhail Zetlin, The Five, translated and edited by George Panin (1959).

Additional Sources

Abraham, Gerald, Rimsky-Korsakov: a short biography, New York: AMS Press, 1976.

Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov, New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.

Montagu-Nathan, M. (Montagu), Rimsky-Korsakof, New York: AMS Press, 1976.

My musical life, London: Ernst Eulenberg Ltd, 1974. □

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai Andreievich (1844–1908) Russian composer, one of the Russian Five. His operas include The Snow Maiden (1881) and The Golden Cockerel (1907), and among his most popular orchestral works are Sheherazade (1888), Capriccio espagnole (1887) and “The Flight of the Bumblebee” from the opera Tsar Saltan (1900).

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