Borodin: Prince Igor (1890) | arr. Sammy Nestico | "Amor Musae" Symphonic Wind Band

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances; Introduction and Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens from the opera "Prince Igor" (1869-1890), arr. Sammy Nestico • "Amor Musae" Symphonic Wind Band • Hilco Elshout (conductor) • 20 November 2021 ("The Soul of Russia")

In 1869, Borodin started composing one of his most important works, the opera "Prince Igor". "Prince Igor" is an opera in four acts and a prologue, for which Borodin wrote his own libretto, based on the medieval "Igor song". It was premiered at the St. Petersburg Court Opera in 1890. Because when Borodin died of a heart attack in 1887, his opera being still unfinished, Borodin's friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and his pupil Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov completed it in two years.
The Polovtsian Dances are located at the end of the second act and are often performed by ballet groups separately from the opera. In the Polovtsian camp, dawn breaks and the campfire begins to die down. Maidens dance around this campfire and new maidens join them, forming a second circle. After a while, the Polovtsian soldiers join in and finally the Polovtsian leader starts waving his sword, symbolising victory. The dance becomes faster and faster and at the end, the group of girls unites with that of the soldiers and the whole thing becomes one big dance of joy.
The "Polovtsian Dances; Introduction and Dance of the Polovetsian Maidens" is limited to the introduction and dance of the maidens. Sammy Nestico's arrangement of this work is probably one of the most remarkable arrangements of Borodins composition, because it's in swing. Sammy (Samuel Lewis) Nestico was an famous American jazz composer and musician who became best known for his arrangements for the Count Basie Orchestra.

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