Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Romantic · 1844–1908
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov began as a naval officer who composed on the side. Born in 1844 in provincial Russia, he joined the navy as a teenager and sketched his first symphony partly while on a long training cruise. In St. Petersburg he fell in with the circle of Russian composers known as The Five, who wanted a national music built from Russian song and story rather than Western textbooks.
Ironically, he became the textbook. Appointed a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1871, he taught himself the formal skills he lacked, then taught them to others, including the young Igor Stravinsky. He had a matchless ear for orchestral color, and he spent years completing and editing the unfinished works of friends like Mussorgsky and Borodin so the world could hear them.
Start with Sheherazade, his sea-soaked telling of the Arabian Nights, then the Capriccio espagnol for pure orchestral fireworks.
81 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Allegro, for string quartet in B flat major
- Nocturne in F major, for 4 horns
- Quintet in B flat major, for flute, clarinet, french horn, bassoon, and piano
- Variations on a Russian Theme, for string quartet
Keyboard
- 3 Pieces, op. 15
- 4 Pieces, op. 11
- 6 Variations on B-A-C-H, for piano, op. 10
- Pesenka, for piano
- Prelude-Impromptu and Mazurka, for piano, op. 38
Orchestral
- Antar Symphonic suite
- Capriccio espagnol, op. 34
- Le Coq d'Or Suite
- Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, op. 30
- Russian Easter Festival Overture, op. 36
- Sheherazade, op. 35
- At the Grave, prelude, 'In memory of M.P. Belyayev', op. 61
- Christmas Eve Suite
- Concerto in B flat major for Trombone and Military Band
- Concertstück in E flat major for Clarinet and Military Band
- Dubinushka, tone poem, op. 62
- Dubinushka, tone poem for orchestra and chorus ad lib, op. 62
- Fairy Tale, op. 29
- Fantasia on Serbian Themes, op. 6
- Fantasia on Two Russian Themes in B minor, for violin and orchestra, op. 33
- Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh
- Maid of Pskov, incidental music
- May Night: Overture
- Mlada
- Neapolitan Song, tone poem, op. 63
- Night on Mount Triglav, tone poem
- Overture on Russian Themes 2, op. 28
- Pan Voyevoda, op. 59
- Sadko, musical picture, op. 5
- Serenade, for cello and orchestra, op. 37
- Sinfonietta on Russian Themes, op. 31
- Snow Maiden
- Symphony no. 1 in E minor, op. 1
- Symphony no. 3 in C major, op. 32
- Tale of Tsar Sultan, op. 57
- The Flight of the Bumble Bee, musical picture for orchestra
- The Tsar's Bride: Overture
- Variations in G minor on a Theme by Glinka, for oboe and military band
- Zdravitsa
Stage
- Christmas Eve Opera
- Kashchey the Immortal Opera
- Le Coq d'Or Opera
- Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh Opera
- Maid of Pskov Opera
- May Night
- Mlada
- Mozart and Salieri, op. 48 Opera
- Sadko Opera
- Serviliya Opera
- Snow Maiden Opera
- The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga, op. 54 Opera
- The Tale of Tsar Saltan Opera
- Tsar's Bride Opera
Vocal
- 2 Choruses, op. 18
- 2 Songs, op. 49
- 2 Songs, op. 56
- 4 Songs, op. 2
- 4 Songs, op. 3
- 4 Songs, op. 4
- 4 Songs, op. 7
- 4 Songs, op. 26
- 4 Songs, op. 27
- 4 Songs, op. 39
- 4 Songs, op. 40
- 4 Songs, op. 42
- 4 Variations and fughetta on a Russian folksong, for women's chorus and piano/harmonium ad lib, op. 14
- 5 Songs, op. 51
- 6 Songs, op. 8
- 15 Russian folksongs, op. 19
- A Golden Little Cloud was Sleeping
- By the Sea, op. 46
- Collection of 100 Russian Songs, op. 24
- The Quiet Blue Sea, for voice and piano
- To a Greek Woman, for voice and piano
- To the Poet, op. 45
- Vesnoy, op. 43
- When the Yellow Field is Swaying, for voice and piano
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