Russian Easter Festival Overture
Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 (Svetliy prazdnik, also known as The Great Russian Easter Overture) is a concert overture written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov between August 1887 and April 1888, and dedicated to the memories of Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin, two members of the legendary "Mighty Handful." It is subtitled "Overture on Liturgical Themes." It is the last of the composer's series of three exceptionally brilliant orchestral works, preceded by Capriccio Espagnol and Scheherazade. The work received its premiere in St. Petersburg in late December 1888.
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[edit] Instrumentation
The overture is scored for a Romantic Orchestra consisting of 3 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in C, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in B-flat, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 timpani in A, D and G, percussion (glockenspiel, triangle, cymbals, snare drum, tamtam), harp, and strings.[1]
[edit] Background
The tunes in the overture are largely from the Russian Orthodox liturgy, based on a collection of old Russian Orthodox liturgical chants called the Obikhod. Rimsky-Korsakov includes several biblical quotations in the score to guide the listener as to his intent, including Psalm 68 and Mark 16.
In this overture, the composer, as he says in his autobiography, is eager to reproduce "the legendary and heathen aspect of the holiday, and the transition from the solemnity and mystery of the evening of Passion Saturday to the unbridled pagan-religious celebrations of Easter Sunday morning". Rimsky-Korsakov always had a great interest in - and enjoyment of - liturgical themes and music, though he was himself a non-believer (see main article Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and notes).
[edit] Structure
The opening section is written in 5/2 time, and is one of the more famous works in 5 for orchestra. The final section of the piece is notated in 2/1 time, making occasional use of 3/1, and is one of very few orchestral works to use either of these time signatures.
