Scheherazade, Op. 35
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

THE STORY

Scheherazade, composed in 1888 by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, draws inspiration from One Thousand and One Nights, a series of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled during the Islamic Golden Age. The collection of stories had become wildly popular in Europe during the 18th and 19th-centuries with the rise of Orientalism, the depiction of Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African societies by Western artists, writers, and designers that emphasized their exoticism and were often built on stereotypes.

One Thousand and One Nights comes in many renditions and languages, but common to all versions of the story is the overarching framing device of the ruling Sultan hearing the many different tales from his wife Scheherazade. Rimsky-Korsakov heads his score with this preface: “The Sultan Shahriar, convinced of the duplicity and infidelity of all women, vowed to slay each of his wives after the first night. The Sultana Scheherazade, however, saved her life by the expedient recounting to the Sultan a succession of tales over a period of one thousand one nights. Overcome by curiosity, the monarch postponed the execution of his wife from day to day, and ended by renouncing his sanguinary resolution altogether.”

LISTEN FOR

• The dark, sinister theme, or leitmotif, which immediately begins the first movement meant to represent the character of the Sultan
• The violin solo and theme making an appearance in each of the movements, accompanied by a harp, which represents Scheherazade herself weaving her tales
• Twinkling percussion in the jovial middle section of the third movement
• Themes from throughout the work reappearing in the fourth and final movement—ending with the solo violin disappearing into the stratosphere, as Scheherazade successfully staves off the Sultan’s cruel intention

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, strings