Alexander Borodin was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 11,
1833. He was trained in the sciences, having attended the Academy of
Medicine in St. Petersburg and in 1858 receiving his doctorate in
chemistry. He continued after that to devote himself to scientific
activities, both in and out of Russia. He produced several significant
papers and, from 1859 to 1862, served on an important scientific
mission.
He had also received some musical training in his boyhood. In 1862 he
began to direct his energies with equal vigor to music as well as to
science. He soon joined four colleagues (Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Cui, and
Rimsky-Korsakov) in forming a national school of composition henceforth
identified as “The Mighty Five” or “The Russian Five.” Like the other
members of this group, Borodin concerned himself with the creation of a
national Russian musical art, well grounded in Russian folk song and
dance, Russian culture and history. In this style he produced three
symphonies, the folk opera _Prince Igor_, two string quartets, and
various operas and instrumental compositions. He differed from the other
members of the “Russian Five” by his partiality to Oriental melodies,
harmonies, rhythms, and instrumental colors, and by his preference for
exotic subjects. Borodin died in St. Petersburg on February 27, 1887.
_In the Steppes of Central Asia_ (1880) is a popular tone poem for
orchestra, one of several _tableaux vivants_ (“living pictures”)
commissioned from various composers to honor the 25th anniversary of the
reign of Czar Alexander II. Each _tableau vivant_ was intended to
portray an incident from the Russian past, or a picture of a Russian
scene. Borodin prepared his own programmatic note to explain his music;
it appears in the published score. “Over the uniformly sandy steppes of
Central Asia come sounds of a peaceful Russian song. Along with them are
heard the melancholy strains of Oriental melodies, then the stamping of
approaching horses and camels. A caravan, accompanied by Russian
soldiers, traverses the measureless waste. With full trust in its
protective escort, it continues its long journey in a carefree mood.
Onward the caravan moves. The songs of the Russians and those of the
Asiatic natives mingle in common harmony. The refrains curl over the
desert and then die away in the distance.”
The peaceful Russian song is given by the clarinet, while the
“melancholy strains of Oriental melodies” is an expressive song for
English horn. These two melodies are the core of a composition that is
free in form.
The _Nocturne_ (_Notturno_) is a haunting, poetic song for strings, the
third movement of the composer’s String Quartet No. 2 in D major (1885).
It is often heard apart from the rest of the work, particularly in
various transcriptions for orchestra, or for violin and piano. In 1953,
furnished with lyrics and adapted into a popular song by Robert Wright
and George “Chet” Forrest, it was heard in the Broadway musical _Kismet_
as “This Is My Beloved” and became an outstanding hit.
The _Polovtsian Dances_ come from _Prince Igor_, a folk opera with
libretto by Vladimir Stassov based on an old Russian chronicle. It was
introduced at the Imperial Opera in St. Petersburg in 1890. The setting
is 12th-century Central Asia where a Tartar race, known as the Polovtzi,
capture Prince Igor and his son, Vladimir. Though captives, Prince Igor
and his son are regaled by the leader of the Tartars with a lavish feast
and Oriental dances. It is at this point in the opera (Act 2) that the
popular _Polovtsian Dances_ appear. They are exciting aural experiences
because of their primitive rhythms, exotic Oriental melodies, and
flaming instrumental colors. One of the dances is a poignant melody for
flute and oboe; another is a dance of savage men in which the main
melody in clarinet is set against a sharply accented phrase of four
descending notes; a third is barbaric, a syncopated melody for strings
accompanied by crash of cymbals; a fourth is a haunting Oriental song
divided by violins and cellos. This last melody was used by Robert
Wright and George “Chet” Forrest for their popular song hit of 1953,
“Stranger in Paradise,” in their Broadway musical, _Kismet_. The
concluding dance is again in a savage manner. A passionate melody is
begun by the woodwind and carried on by the strings, while receiving a
vigorous horn accompaniment.