The Polovetsian Dances (or Polovtsian Dances) are perhaps the best known selections from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor. Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (Александр Порфирьевич Бородин Aleksandr Porfir'evič Borodin) ( &ndash) was a Russian Composer Prince Igor ( Князь Игорь, Knyaz' Igor) is an Opera by Alexander Borodin, written in four acts with a prologue They are often played as a stand-alone concert piece as one of the best known works in the classical repertoire. In the opera the dances are performed with chorus, but concert performances often omit the choral parts. For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers The dances do not include the "Polovetsian March" which opens Act III (No. 18), but the overture, dances, and march from the opera have been performed together to form a suite from Prince Igor. In Music, a suite is an ordered set of Instrumental or Orchestral pieces normally performed in a Concert In the opera Prince Igor the dances occur in Act II (in the original edition).
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The dances
The first dance, which uses no chorus and is sometimes omitted in concerts, is No. 8, entitled "Dance of the Polovetsian Maidens" ["Пляска половецких девушек"]: Presto, 6/8, F Major; it is placed directly after the "Chorus of the Polovetsian Maidens" which opens the act and is followed by "Konchakovna's Cavatina". The dances proper appear at the end of the Act as an uninterrupted single number in several contrasting sections listed as follows (basic themes are indicated with letters in brackets and notated in the accompanying illustration
- No. 17, "Polovetsian Dance [sic] with Chorus" ["Половецкая пляска с хором"]
- [a] Introduction: Andantino, 4/4, A Major
- [b] Gliding Dance of the Maidens [Пляска девушек плавная]: Andantino, 4/4, A Major
- [c + a] Wild Dance of the Men [Пляска мужчин дикая]: Allegro vivo, 4/4, F Major
- [d] General Dance [Общая пляска]: Allegro, 3/4, D Major
- [e] Dance of the Boys [Пляска мальчиков] and 2nd Dance of the Men [Пляска мужчин]: Presto, 6/8, D Minor
- [b’ + e’] Gliding Dance of the Maidens (reprise, soon combined with the faster dancing of the boys): Moderato alla breve, 2/2
- [e’’] Dance of the Boys and 2nd Dance of the Men (reprise): Presto, 6/8, D Minor
- [c’ + a’’] General Dance: Allegro con spirito, 4/4, A Major
As an orchestral showpiece by an important nineteenth-century Russian composer, this work makes a spectacular impression. Notable instrumental solos include the clarinet (in No. 8 and the Men's Dance [c]) and the oboe and English horn (in the Women's Dance [b]).
Translation
The text of the first stanza of this particular section in the opera is given below.
| Cyrillic | English Translation | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
Улетай на крыльях ветра | Fly away on the wings of the wind | Uletay na kryl'yakh vetra |
References in popular culture
Most of the themes from No. 17 were incorporated into the 1953 musical Kismet, best known of which is the women's dance ("Gliding Dance of the Maidens"), adapted for the song "Stranger in Paradise". Kismet is a musical written in 1953 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and " Stranger in Paradise " is a popular Song from the 1953 musical Kismet and is credited to Robert Wright Thirteen years earlier, in 1940, Artie Shaw recorded "My Fantasy" (credited to composers Whiteman-Meskitt-Edwards) which has a tune virtually identical to this dance. Arthur Jacob Arshawsky ( May 23, 1910 &ndash December 30, 2004) better known as Artie Shaw, was an American Jazz
More recent adaptations of the music include the following:
- British string quartet bond recorded an instrumental version of the women's dance in their album "Shine", renamed "Strange Paradise" to fit with Kismet's use of the melody. A string quartet is a Musical ensemble of four String instruments &mdash usually two Violins a Viola and Cello &mdash or a piece Bond (often typeset as bond in deference to the owners of the 007 Shine is the second Album released by the classical crossover String quartet Bond.
- Different adaptations of No. 17 "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" have been featured as background music in several TV series, including Princess Tutu, Noir, and Kare Kano, while it is given a special significance in RahXephon. is a Magical girl Anime created by Ikuko Itoh in 2002 for Animation studio Hal Film Maker. is a Japanese animated Television series directed by Koichi Mashimo and written by Ryoe Tsukimura. commonly abbreviated, is a Manga series by Masami Tsuda. It was published by Hakusensha in LaLa from 1995 to 2005 and collected in 21 is a Japanese Anime series about 17-year-old Ayato Kamina his ability to control a godlike Mecha known as the RahXephon and his inner journey to find a place in The track "The Garden of Everything" on the top 10 Maaya Sakamoto single "Tune the Rainbow" uses it as a sub-melody.
References
- Borodin, A. Le Prince Igor. Partition pour chant et piano. Edition M.P. Belaieff. Mitrofan Petrovich Belyayev (Митрофа́н Петро́вич Беля́ев old style 10 (Russian, French, and German text. )
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