Alexander Borodin: Polovtsian Dances --- Royal Symphonic Wind Band Vooruit, Harelbeke

Polovtsian dances – Alexander Borodin
Recording by Royal Symphonic Wind Band Vooruit, Harelbeke - conducted by Erik Desimpelaere

Consisting of only 50 pieces, the complete oeuvre of the Russian composer Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) is not the biggest. Composing was for Alexander more a ‘hobby’, next to his work as chemical engineer. However even with this small amount of compositions, he deserves his place in classical music history. Borodin was member of the “Mighty Handful” a group of Russian composers on a quest to find a unique Russian music style. Opera was the medium par excellence to achieve this, and in 1869 Borodin started to write ‘Prince Igor’ - not by accident a subject in Russian history. When Borodin died in 1887, the piece was not finished yet. Thanks to Glazunov & Rimsky-Korsakov - also members of the Mightly Handful - the opera was completed.

The story is based on the ‘Igor Song’, an old Russian epos telling the story of Prince Igor’s battle against the Polovtsians, a group of Turkish nomads. However, the expedition resulted in a true failure and Igor was captured and incarcerated. During this period, the leader of the Polovtsians seemed to be merciful, he noticed that Igor was getting melancholical and promptly demanded to dance and sing for the prisoner.

In these Polovtsian Dances by Alexander Borodin, one by one different groups are passing by: rousing music from young Polovtsian women, tempting female slaves, powerful men and lively youngsters, concluded by a wild dance of all groups together. Borodin’s music is often violent and presents the wild and primitive character of this barbarian tribe. However, the entrancing melodies also evoke a feeling of attraction towards this exotic people.

This recording is part of the DVD Fingerprints