Classical Music I Loved As A Teenager 2—Sheherazade

SECOND PIECE

Sheherazade by Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov
(Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Kiril Konrashin)

Sheherazade was one of the first pieces that really hooked me. Right from the beginning is this powerful proclamation in unison by the brass and strings. Then mysterious woodwind chords open a magical world where we hear a gorgeous violin solo over harp.

That violin solo is Sheherazade telling a story! The whole work is essentially a symphony in four movements, each movement full of exciting exotic colors and beautiful themes, all with remarkable solos for the winds. And by the way, those magical woodwind chords that begin the journey? That’s Rimsky-Korsakov quoting the “Once Upon A Time” opening from an earlier masterpiece: Felix Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture.

Rimsky-Korsakov based Sheherazade on “The Arabian Nights,” a book that tells the story of King Shahryar, who is convinced that all women are faithless. He murders his wives the day after he marries them, so that they never have a chance to betray and dishonor him. He eventually marries Sheherazade, who figures a way to stay alive. She tells him a story that ends with a cliffhanger. The king wants to hear how the story ends, so he delays her execution for one day. But then she finishes that story the next night, she then begins another and ends with another cliffhanger. This goes on for 1001 nights, after which the King relents and lets her live. 

Here are some of the moments I remember being so special to me:

1st movement
In the first movement, the swashbuckling seafaring theme combined with the Sheherazade theme. I marveled how Rimsky-Korsakov imagined combining the two different themes together.

2nd movement
The beautiful bassoon solo in the 2nd movement. Consider that this high bassoon melody was composed about 20 years (1888) before the even higher bassoon solo that begins Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (1913). And fifteen years later (1928), Ravel composed his own famous high bassoon solo in Bolero. All three solos are related. Stravinsky was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov and Ravel was a friend of Stravinsky.

Hear how the bassoon melody becomes even more expressive with the oboe and harp.

The exciting trade-offs between trombones and trumpets a tritone apart.

The clarinet cadenza over pizzicato strings. Later in the movement the bassoon, flute, and horn also play this cadenza.

3rd movement
the sweeping arabesques in clarinet, flute, and strings that weave over the expressive love melody.

4th movement
the frenetic tarantella beginning with flute and violas and the trumpet fanfare that follows.

And the exotic music that combines a variation of the Sheherazade violin tune with the tarantella.

Finally, the way the solo violin hovers with the high E harmonic over the now subdued opening proclamation theme in the low strings, eventually revealing the high wind chords that finish this amazing “Once Upon A Time” saga.

This programmatic symphony needs no visuals to tell its story. For me, it opened my imagination to the sonic possibilities of the orchestra and the potential of a journey through music, more powerful than words or images.

Feel free to share in the comments your own favorite moments or memories of Sheherazade!