# Recommendations on this specific composer or someone like him



## The Sound Of Perseverance (Aug 20, 2014)

After registering on spotify, the mobile music streaming service, I figured I'd give classical music another chance, and Ive found the perfect match for my ears, his name is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 

Any recommendations based off this?


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

Which Rimsky-Korsakov piece(s) did you listen to?

Are you looking for more of his works or works by other composers similar to his style?


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Try Glazunov next.

Balakriev too.


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## The Sound Of Perseverance (Aug 20, 2014)

Proms Fanatic said:


> Which Rimsky-Korsakov piece(s) did you listen to?
> 
> Are you looking for more of his works or works by other composers similar to his style?


I listened to sheherezade I. largo....? And mayskaya noch' (May night) and yes i am


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

The Sound Of Perseverance said:


> After registering on spotify, the mobile music streaming service, I figured I'd give classical music another chance, and Ive found the perfect match for my ears, his name is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,
> 
> Any recommendations based off this?


Ah, my favorite composer! He seems to be gaining some popularity here on TC, which makes me happy. 

His 3 most famous pieces (besides Flight of the Bumblebee, which is actually from his opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and is better in context), are probably *Scheherazade*, *Capriccio Espagnol* and the *Russian Easter Festival Overture*. If you haven't heard them yet, I highly recommend it. However, just about all of his compositions are of high quality, so really you can't go wrong listening anything by him.

Although I don't think there are many composers that are just like R-K, he was a major influence on a lot of composers, and studied with many, especially Russian composers. So you have Glazunov, Arensky, Lyadov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, etc. For non-Russian composers, there is also Ottorino Respighi, whose orchestration was clearly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Schnittke if you're game enough. 

Otherwise, yes Balakirev and Glazunov are good. Perhaps also Borodin and Glière.


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## The Sound Of Perseverance (Aug 20, 2014)

musicrom said:


> Ah, my favorite composer! He seems to be gaining some popularity here on TC, which makes me happy.
> 
> His 3 most famous pieces (besides Flight of the Bumblebee, which is actually from his opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and is better in context), are probably *Scheherazade*, *Capriccio Espagnol* and the *Russian Easter Festival Overture*. If you haven't heard them yet, I highly recommend it. However, just about all of his compositions are of high quality, so really you can't go wrong listening anything by him.
> 
> Although I don't think there are many composers that are just like R-K, he was a major influence on a lot of composers, and studied with many, especially Russian composers. So you have Glazunov, Arensky, Lyadov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, etc. For non-Russian composers, there is also Ottorino Respighi, whose orchestration was clearly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov.


Thank you for the recomendations and I had always though prokofiev was from another era, thank you for re educating me!!


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

The Sound Of Perseverance said:


> Thank you for the recomendations and I had always though prokofiev was from another era, thank you for re educating me!!


Prokofiev was kind of in the next generation of Russian composers, but he studied a little bit under Rimsky-Korsakov, and although I recently read that he didn't like R-K's class and got nothing out of it, I think you can still find clear influences in his music.


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## The Sound Of Perseverance (Aug 20, 2014)

musicrom said:


> Prokofiev was kind of in the next generation of Russian composers, but he studied a little bit under Rimsky-Korsakov, and although I recently read that he didn't like R-K's class and got nothing out of it, I think you can still find clear influences in his music.


I'm guessing you are correct on that!

I'm reading on these russian composers I'm sure the restrictions on music
Put on by Stalin produced some unique but also boring composers?


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Stravinsky mixed Rimsky-Korsakov with Debussy and a few exotic spices (his own secret recipe) and came up with _Firebird._ Don't miss it!


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

I think Robert Greenberg rated Rimsky-Korsakov as one of the most underrated composers of all time because he influenced so many that came after him.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

You can hear some of Rimsky's influence in Shostakovich's 1st Symphony, especially the second movement. But the whole work is brilliantly orchestrated...not bad for a student piece!


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## The Sound Of Perseverance (Aug 20, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> Stravinsky mixed Rimsky-Korsakov with Debussy and a few exotic spices (his own secret recipe) and came up with _Firebird._ Don't miss it!


I'll check it out!


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Stravinsky mixed Rimsky-Korsakov with Debussy and a few exotic spices (his own secret recipe) and came up with _Firebird._ Don't miss it!


Good call.

And there's still a bit of Rimsky-Korsakov left in The Rite of Spring.



> there is also Ottorino Respighi, whose orchestration was clearly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov.


The Pines of Rome and the Fountains of Rome have always reminded me of Korsakov.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

My first thought was to recommend Stravinsky's "Firebird", which Woodduck has already done. Take his advice and "don't miss it." Too, I see that Lyadov has been mentioned, and several other good choices as well. I love the "Scheherazade" which I hear as the only large symphony-like work which features a single theme, albeit one which is transformed in a number of ways. The story itself is that of a new bride, Scheherazade, attempting to keep alive by enticing her new husband, the murderous Sultan, by telling intriguing stories. Apparently the stories are so good that for 1001 nights the Sultan is fascinated enough not to kill his new wife, a previous habit of his, and he lets her live.

I argue that the work's single theme, as stated in the solo violin, the "voice of Scheherazade", is also the theme of the heros of each of the four sections, and is also the theme of the Sultan himself, that opening march-like theme. Why is it that the Sultan lets her live? Because she makes him the hero of the stories -- thus the heroes' theme is the same as his. Yet, Scheherazade is always in control, and she imposes that control over the Sultan -- thus, his theme is actually her theme. He falls in love with her because she makes him feel important, but she is the controlling figure through it all. Rimsky-Korsakov seems to have had the piece well covered and approached it with a literary understanding, and not just a musical one.

Once you get through the remainder of R-K's works, which are splendid pieces, and finish exploring "Firebird" and Lyadov and Glazunov, et al ... take a listen to the symphonies of Scriabin. You may find them intriguing.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

The Sound Of Perseverance said:


> After registering on spotify, the mobile music streaming service, I figured I'd give classical music another chance, and Ive found the perfect match for my ears, his name is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,
> 
> Any recommendations based off this?


One who hasn't been mentioned is Ippolitov-Ivanov, another student of Rimsky-Korsakov. Try his two suites of _Caucasian Sketches. _Respighi and Stravinksy, who others mentioned, are good bets too since R-K taught them as well.

Other examples of Orientalism in music are Grieg's _Anitra's Dance _from _Peer Gynt Suite #1_, Saint-Saen's _Bacchanale_ from _Samson and Delilah_, Strauss' _Dance of the Seven Veils _from _Salome_. This trend was taken over by many composers for film scores, one of the best examples being Maurice Jarre's score to David Lean's _Lawrence of Arabia_.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Try another Russian piece - Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition". Originally a piano work, it has been orchestrated by various people, the most commonly performed one being that by Ravel.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

Seconding Respighi. Try his "Rome" suites and "Church Windows".


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I've remembered since doing my post that Respighi's _Belkis, Queen of Sheba _is one of his works that is pretty much copying Rimsky-Korsakov's Orientalism. I have checked and the suite is on youtube, but its another recording to the one on Chandos label that I've heard.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Sid James said:


> I've remembered since doing my post that Respighi's _Belkis, Queen of Sheba _is one of his works that is pretty much copying Rimsky-Korsakov's Orientalism. I have checked and the suite is on youtube, but its another recording to the one on Chandos label that I've heard.


Yes, _Belkis_ is full of Rimsky-like orientalisms, and very cinematic. If you are old enough, you may visualize Susan Hayward draped languidly over the muscular forearms of a toga-clad Victor Mature.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Mussorgsky, absolutely.

Edit: sorry, did not see that someone beat me to this.


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## Marsilius (Jun 13, 2015)

Gliere's third symphony, subtitled Il'ya Muromets, is available in a superb performance from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra very cheaply on the Naxos label. A sort of expanded, lusher and at times louder version of Scheherazade.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

As an addenda to my prior post ...

As I read through this thread, I see a lot of great recommendations. Please sample everything mentioned if you haven't yet heard these works.

Meanwhile, I reflect upon what it is that makes Rimsky-Korsakov so special, and in some sense it is his mastery of orchestration. Yet he was, for the most part, a self-taught composer (whose real career was as a naval officer). He even wrote a book -- some might say _the_ book -- on orchestration. With this in mind another fellow came to mind -- Hector Berlioz; and I thought it prudent to recommend Berlioz's _Symphonie fantastique_, a work which I feel sure influenced the Russian master in many ways. Berlioz, too, was largely self-taught and was a master at orchestration, creating many novel effects in sound. If you don't yet know the _Symphonie fantastique_, please give it a listen.

Another master orchestrator, and one who has been mentioned in this thread already, is Maurice Ravel, and you should find great delight in his pieces such as _La valse _and _Daphnis et Chloe _... and of course _Bolero_! Ravel is among those who have orchestrated the Mussorgsky _Pictures at an Exhibition_, a must hear, and his version remains perhaps the most famous and most often-performed/recorded of the various transcriptions (of which I have several in my collection).

Respighi, too, (already mentioned) is a master orchestrator, sometimes producing much more in the way of "orchestration" than in the way of "music" -- as a listen to something like the _Pines of Rome _will suggest. (Still, I love _Pines of Rome _and everything I've heard from Respighi!)

I was happy to see Sid James mention Ippolitov-Ivanov. Yes ... _do _listen to that recommendation.!

All the best as you explore this wonderful world of sound.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

SONNET CLV said:


> Meanwhile, I reflect upon what it is that makes Rimsky-Korsakov so special, and in some sense it is his mastery of orchestration. Yet he was, for the most part, a self-taught composer (whose real career was as a naval officer). He even wrote a book -- some might say _the_ book -- on orchestration. With this in mind another fellow came to mind -- Hector Berlioz; and I thought it prudent to recommend Berlioz's _Symphonie fantastique_,* a work which I feel sure influenced the Russian master in many ways*. Berlioz, too, was largely self-taught and was a master at orchestration, creating many novel effects in sound. If you don't yet know the _Symphonie fantastique_, please give it a listen.


Interestingly, Rimsky-Korsakov didn't care much for Berlioz. He actually preferred the music of Wagner. According to Vasiliy Yastrebtsev's biography of Rimsky-Korsakov, he found the _Symphonie fantastique_ original but "impossibly awkward."

He said that "except for such things as the impeccable introduction to The Flight into Egypt, the Dance of the Nubians, the Roman Carnival Overture and the Waltz of the Sylphs, he does not care for Berlioz' music."

Nonetheless, I would suggest you listen to the _Symphonie fantastique_ if you haven't heard it yet.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Sid James said:


> I've remembered since doing my post that Respighi's _Belkis, Queen of Sheba _is one of his works that is pretty much copying Rimsky-Korsakov's Orientalism. I have checked and the suite is on youtube, but its another recording to the one on Chandos label that I've heard.


And this most certainly is because Respighi DID go to the St. Petersburg conservatory and study under RK for a time.

Just to put a slow-down to all these recommendations... RK isn't just his mighty Trilogy of orchestral works: Scheherezade, Capriccio Espagnol, and Russian Easter Overture. When I was first getting into the Russians, I had an obsessed phase with each of those 3. Soooo good music! But after listening to them like at least 10 times each, I wanted to move on, and I discovered that he wrote much more than that. He wrote tons of operas!! And he made instrumental suites from those operas in case opera isn't your thing. Golden Cockerel, Snow Maiden, Kitezh, Mlada, etc.

Purely orchestral works to move to after the Trilogy:

Symphony no. 2 "Antar"

















Sadko, Musical Picture op. 5:





You open up your ears to one Russian composer, you open up your ears to them all. As you get to know RK more, you will eventually find yourself being drawn to the rest of the Russian family. Move from one to another, one at a time, so you don't get too overwhelmed. It's taken me, what, 8 years to get to the level of knowledge of Russian music that I am today? It won't happen over night lol. Happy listening to you!


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## Grizzled Ghost (Jun 10, 2015)

Check out Heitor Villa-Lobos:









Another great Russian composer.

Ok, maybe not exactly Russian, but still great.


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## Brad (Mar 27, 2014)

I recently went to a concert that featured Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade preceded by Borodin's Polovtsian Dances. I think it's a wonderful match.


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## AnotherSpin (Apr 9, 2015)

Never would understand this vodka-inspired type of so-called classical music.


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