Scheherazade

And the Borodin Symphony is kind of one of the first major symphony works from the 1860s.

And when you hear it, You think you're hearing the music of Rimsky-Korsakov from 1880s Scheherazade.

Right.

But all the stylistic elements that we associate with other composers are embedded in Berlin's Second Symphony.

Material, color.

I mean, he sets the ground for this incredible amount of symphonic music that will follow him.

So, and last season we played the Scheherazade, the age of Cary Music Hall.

When I rehearsed the Borodin with the orchestra, I said, you can tell the similarities.

So another piece where we'll be needing multiple percussion.

In March, we're doing Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, which percussion players may know as a piece that requires multiple players.

Five players plus timpani.

So string players, percussionists, bassoonists are always, you know, we have two bassoonists, but we sometimes need three.

Peter and the Wolf was an incredibly important record to me.

yeah because it was telling a story you know i've always loved being told a story and so peter and the wolf was this fantastic story for a for a very young boy and i loved it and there weren't that many pieces of music like that there were there was this of uh tell me the tuba story there was the uh hans christian anders and stuff a lot of interesting musicals but Suddenly, I discovered, I think it was Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Oh, that was the first piece of classical music that absolutely blew my mind, and I've loved it ever since.

And I think that, you know, I kind of, as a little, as that little boy began to realize there may be no words, there's nobody telling the story, but there's still a story here.

Which Rimsky-Korsakov composition, which features heavily in Kaleidoscope, was also premiered that year?

Scheherazade.

It's not.

Oh, no.

... do not get me wrong here.

Also, Schehe- but I will say Scheherazade, Shlomo.

There is, there is music in the repertoire, and that was the music that I connected to as a young child.

There is storytelling music in classical music, and it's that same joy.

When you-

Yeah

... play Scheherazade in the orchestra, like, it's wonderful, and it's, like, emotional and, like, so, uh, rich, and you do it for a week, and then you move on.

Yes.

I feel like I recognize that name.

Uh, like he did Scheherazade, which is kind of like a staple of Russian classical music.

He's known as, like, one of the, the five group of composers.

Balakirev, uh, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Kors- Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin.

So, like, basically you'll know who, like, Rimsky-Korsakov is 'cause you've heard his music.

It's just-

I, however, am listening to a little bit right now that I pulled up and I'm like, "You're right, I have heard his music before." I literally pulled up, uh, Scheherazade and was like-

Oh

And I was lucky, my father also loved classical music.

And I think that my first memories of hearing classical music were my dad would put on a record, he had records of like, Firebird Suite, Scheherazade, you know, some of the well-known classical pieces.

He would put the record on, and then he would lie on the floor, on the living room rug, and invite us kids to do the same, to lie on the floor.

And he would say, close your eyes, hear the music, and see what you, just look at what you see in your head.

I was like, "Can you believe?" That one was fun.

I lo- I really liked doing, um, uh, Scheherazade.

Mm.

I thought that story was so interesting.

You know, something that'll put us in the right spirit for India.

Okay, how about, uh, Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov?

Phil, just play Tiger Rag.

I'm in no mood to gamble.

[laughs]

Look who wants to play Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Well, he certainly surprised me.

Surprised you? I didn't even play it.