RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, Nicolai
b Tikhvin, 6 March 1844
d St Petersburg, 21 June 1908, aged sixty-four

His father was a retired civil governor and landowner, and the whole family was fond of music. Destined for a naval career he entered the Naval College in St Petersburg at the age of twelve, studying piano solely as a hobby. His teacher introduced him to Balakirev, with whom Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Borodin and Mussorgsky formed the group of composers known as 'The Five'. After three years in the Navy he came back to St Petersburg at the age of twenty-one and tinkered with composition, in which he was showing a growing interest. At twenty-seven, to his amazement, he was offered the post of professor of composition and instrumentation at the St Petersburg Conservatory. At this time he shared lodgings with Mussorgsky. He was still officially in the Navy, and in 1873 he was appointed inspector of military bands, which furthered his interest in orchestration; and eventually the self-taught amateur became one of the great masters. Overwork caused him to have a nervous breakdown when he was in his forties, but he recovered to enter another period of creative activity. He was very much concerned with the political upheavals in Russia in

1905. He died of angina pectoris.

1861-5 (17-21)

Symphony No 1 in Eb major

1866 (22)

Overture on Russian Themes

Symphony No 3 in C major (1866-73)

1867 (23)

Sadko, tone poem (later developed into a ballet-opera)

Fantasia on Serbian Themes, for orchestra

1868-72 (24-8)

The Maid of Pskov (Ivan the Terrible), opera

1869 (25)

Antar, symphonic suite (originally Symphony No 2)

1875 (31)

Quartet No 1

Three Pieces for piano

Six Fugues

1876 (32)

Sextet for strings

Quintet for piano and wind

1878 (34)

May Night, opera

Variations on BACH, for piano

Four Pieces for piano

1879 (35)

Sinfonietta on Russian Themes

Legend, for orchestra (1879-80)

1880-1 (36-7)

The Snow Maiden, opera

1882-3 (38-9)

Piano Concerto in C# minor

1886 (42)

Fantasia Concertante on Russian Themes, for violin and orchestra

1887 (43)

Capriccio espagnol, for orchestra

1888 (44)

Russian Easter Festival Overture

Schehérezade, symphonic suite

1892 (48)

fp Mlada, opera

1895 (51)

Christmas Eve, opera

1897 (53)

Three Song Cycles: In Spring To the Poet By the Sea

Piano Trio

1898 (54)

Mozart and Salieri, opera

1899 (55)

The Tsar's Bride, opera

1900 (56)

The Legend of Tsar Sultan, opera

1902 (58)

fp Kaschey the Immortal, opera

1903 (59)

Souvenir de trois chants polonais, for violin and orchestra

Serenade, for cello and piano

The Invisible City of Kitezh, opera (1903-5)

1905 (61)

fp Orchestral Variations on a Russian peoples' song

1906-7 (62-3)

Le coq d'or, opera

Rimsky-Korsakov also wrote a cantata, Ballad of the Doom of Oleg.