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Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (1844-1908)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

born: 18 March 1844
died: 21 June 1908
country: Russia

Although music played an important part in the early life of Rimsky-Korsakov, he followed family tradition and enrolled as a student at the College of Naval Cadets in St Petersburg in 1856. He continued to take piano lessons, however, and was introduced to the influential composer Balakirev and such outstanding young musicians as Cui and Mussorgsky.

After graduating in 1862, Rimsky-Korsakov joined the crew of the clipper Almaz and sailed on a voyage that lasted until the summer of 1865. On his return to St Petersburg, Balakirev encouraged him to complete the sketches he had made for his first symphony. Composition increasingly occupied Rimsky-Korsakov’s time, and in 1871 he became a professor of composition at the St Petersburg Conservatory. He remained on the staff for the rest of his life, with a brief absence in 1905 when he was censured for supporting students involved in the rebellion of that year. His pupils included Liadov, Glazunov, Tcherepnin, Miaskovsky and Stravinsky.

Exotic melodies and orchestrations became a hallmark of Rimsky-Korsakov’s mature compositions, powerfully so in works such as the symphonic suite Scheherazade, the operas Mlada, Tsar Saltan and The Golden Cockerel, and the final version of his symphonic poem Sadko.

from notes by Andrew Stewart © 2022

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