Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian Romantic orchestrator supreme and master of musical storytelling
1844
1908
Russian
Romantic
Scheherazade, Flight of the Bumblebee
Early life
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was born on 18 March 1844 in Tikhvin, in the Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire. His family had a tradition of naval service, and at twelve he entered the Naval Cadet Corps in Saint Petersburg. Despite his love of music, he received no systematic musical training in his youth. In 1861 he met Mily Balakirev, who became his informal mentor and drew him into the circle of nationalist composers known as 'The Mighty Handful.' Even while serving as a naval officer — including a three-year voyage around the world (1862–1865) — Rimsky-Korsakov composed his First Symphony, making him one of the few notable composers to write a symphony at sea.
Career and major works
In 1871, despite being largely self-taught, Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed professor of composition and orchestration at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, a position that compelled him to master the very skills he was supposed to teach. He threw himself into the study of harmony, counterpoint, and orchestration with characteristic thoroughness, transforming himself from a gifted amateur into the foremost Russian authority on the orchestra. His fifteen operas, including The Snow Maiden (1882), Sadko (1898), Tsar Saltan (1900), and The Golden Cockerel (1907), form the backbone of the Russian operatic repertoire alongside those of Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky. His orchestral works include the symphonic suite Scheherazade (1888), the Capriccio espagnol (1887), and the Russian Easter Festival Overture (1888), all showcasing his dazzling command of orchestral colour. The celebrated 'Flight of the Bumblebee,' an orchestral interlude from Tsar Saltan, has become one of the most recognisable passages in classical music.
Musical style and legacy
Rimsky-Korsakov's music is characterised by brilliant, luminous orchestration — his treatise Principles of Orchestration remains a standard textbook — vivid pictorial writing, and a harmonic language enriched by folk scales and the whole-tone and octatonic scales he pioneered. His influence as a teacher was immense: his pupils included Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Glazunov. He died in Lyubensk on 21 June 1908.