Symphonic suite for orchestra, Op. 35
Composer: Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov
Date of publication: 1888
Nickname: Scheherazade
Korsakov’s suite is program music for the famous One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights). In the tale, the Sultan Shahryar – furious after finding out his wife cheated on him – decides to marry a new woman every day. At the end of each night, Shahryar orders his wife for the day to be beheaded. And so, the Sultan kills 3000 women over the course of 3000 days until he meets Scheherazade, his 3001st wife. Scheherazade, determined to live, outwits the Sultan by telling a fascinating story every night, but always leaving on a cliffhanger before finishing the story the next day. Shahryar never orders for her execution. He fears that if he did, then he wouldn't ever be able to hear the ending of a story. Their dance continues for 1001 days, giving the tale its namesake, until eventually the Sultan fall in love with Scheherazade – no more need for beheading!
Korsakov tackles the challenge of converting this story by creating a dynamic within the symphony. An imposing brass opening begins the piece, representing the fury and intensity of the Sultan. Three-thousand nights pass in less than a minute through a minor chord progression. Enter Scheherazade – an enchanting melody played by the solo violin. In the suite, the violin’s undulating triplet-sixteenths leitmotif remerges in every movement as Scheherazade tells fascinating, new stories.
In the first movement, Scheherazade tells the story of The Sea and Sinbad's Ship, portrayed through a rocking accompaniment in the cellos and an evocative E major passage played by the soloist. In The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship, the Porter Sinbad sets off on seven exhilarating voyages marked with mystical animals and life-threatening storms before vowing to not set sail again. Korsakov chose E major for this passage since he was a synesthete who could see colors in sounds. Everything he heard in E major is a deep blue, much like the ocean. Scheherazade’s leitmotif plays twice in this movement, symbolizing her scheme to introduce the story at night and finish it in the morning. The gap right before the leitmotif plays for the second time features a calm harp melody, symbolizing the night passing before Scheherazade’s narration in the morning.
Scheherazade tells a new story – “The Tale of the Kalendar Prince.” – in the second movement. Traditional Middle Eastern melodies played by the woodwinds are accentuated through rubato, creating a foreign sense of improvisation to the western ear. However, there are three princes in One Thousand and One Nights and Korsakov left it unclear which tale he was referring to.
The third movement focuses on the main love story "The Young Prince and the Young Princess". Unlike the previous two movements, the third doesn’t begin with Scheherazade's leitmotif. Instead, the Prince’s courting efforts are recounted through a lyrical lower-string section. However, her theme returns halfway through and builds to a passionate climax – supposedly a kiss.
The final movement "Festival at Baghdad – The Sea – Ship Breaks upon a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman." ties the entire piece together. The movement revisits passages and themes from all of the previous movements back. The excited strings, nimble winds, and energetic brass picture impatient Sultan goading Scheherazade on to finish her story and continually telling the executioner at his door to come back tomorrow.
Fun Fact: Korsakov conducted the premiere of Scheherazade in St Petersburg.
Movements:
I. Largo e maestoso (The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship)
2. Lento (The Tale of the Kalendar prince)
3. Andantino quasi allegretto (The Young Prince and the Young Princess)
4. Allegro molto (Festival at Baghdad – The Sea – Ship Breaks upon a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman)
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