Pages

Thursday, January 15, 2015

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2015

QUOTE:
"A good composer does
  not imitate; he steals."
AUTHOR: Igor Stravinsky
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"There are no new ideas only old ones which
  are combined to form new combinations. The
  better composers study the music of many
  others giving them a larger selection of ideas
  to use."






COMPOSER
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV

"Song of India"
From the Opera: Sadko
Korovin: Stage Design For the Opera Sadko, 1901
THE STORY OF THE OPERA "SADKO"
Sadko is a Russian fairy tale opera
in three acts which tells the story
of Sadko, a gusli (an old Russian multi-
string plucked instrument similar to a
psaltery) player,
Viktor Vasnetsov: Gusli musicians, 1899
who played his instrument on the shores
of a lake. The Sea Tsar appeared to
express his gratitude. On his advice, he
made a bet with the local merchants
about a fish in the lake; then he caught it,
and they had to pay the bet, making him
a rich merchant.

He traded on the seas with his new wealth,
but one day, his ships stopped in the sea
and would not move. They tried to appease
the Sea Tsar with gold, but finally Sadko
had to jump into the sea. He played the
gusli for the Sea Tsar, who offered him a
new bride, the daughter of the King and
Queen of the Ocean. On advice, he took
the last maiden in a long line. He later woke
up on the shore and rejoined his wife
Lubava and home in Novgorod (one of the
most important historic cities in Russia).
Sadko
(Full Opera)
Yuri Simonov, Conductor 
Bolshoi, 1980