Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

wrote his Fantasia on Serbian Themes, Op. 6, in 1867.

Mily Balakirev Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev (russian: Милий Алексеевич Балакирев,BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian: Miliy Alekseyevich Balakirev; ALA-LC system: ''Miliĭ Alekseevich Balakirev''; ISO 9 system: ''Milij Alekseevič Balakir ...

conducted the first performed of this piece in May of that year. It is also known as the ''Serbian Fantasy''. The Fantasy was actually Balakirev's idea for the young Rimsky-Korsakov to compose.Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 71. He requested the piece for a concert of pan-Slavonic music he had planned for May 24, 1867, programming his ''Czech Overture'' on the same billing. Balakirev also produced the Serbian themes for Rimsky-Korsakov to use in his composition. Rimsky-Korsakov confessed in his autobiography that it was not any feeling of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had ruled ...

that prompted him to write the ''Fantasy'', but the beauty of the themes themselves. Nevertheless, Balakirev liked the piece, which Rimsky-Korsakov had written rapidly. A March 1868 review of the ''Fantasy'' by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, in which he also mentioned Rimsky-Korsakov's First Symphony, found favour within the Balakirev circle.Brown, David, ''Tchaikovsky: The Early Years, 1840-1874'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1978), 129-130. Tchaikovsky mentioned the symphony's "charming orchestration ... its structural novelty, and most of all by the freshness of its purely Russian harmonic turns ... immediately howingMr. Rimsky-Korsakov to be a remarkable symphonic talent." Tchaikovsky was already acquainted with Balakirev and was working with him on his fantasy overture ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

''. The review opened the door for him to meet the other members of " The Five" face-to-face the following month. In 1887 Rimsky-Korsakov revised the piece to prepare it for a new edition undertaken by

Mitrofan Belyayev Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev (russian: Митрофа́н Петро́вич Беля́ев; old style 10/22 February 1836, St. Petersburg22 December 1903/ 4 January 1904) was an Imperial Russian music publisher, outstanding philanthropist, a ...

's publishing firm.Rimsky-Korsakov, 299.

References

Sources

* Brown, David, ''Tchaikovsky: The Early Years, 1840-1874'' (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1978). . *Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai, ''Letoppis Moyey Muzykalnoy Zhizni'' (St. Petersburg, 1909), published in English as ''My Musical Life'' (New York: Knopf, 1925, 3rd ed. 1942). ISBN n/a. Compositions by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Compositions for symphony orchestra 1867 compositions

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

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