Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov
Active 1890s - 1900s
Musical Period Post-Romantic, Romantic
Born March 18, 1844 in Tikhvin, Russia
Died June 21, 1908 in Lyubensk, Russia
Scheherazade, also spelled Sheherazade, orchestral suite by Russian composer Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov that was inspired by the collection of largely Middle Eastern and Indian tales known as The Thousand and One Nights (or The Arabian Nights). Exemplary of the late 19th-century taste for program music—or, music with a story to tell—the piece evokes an image of Scheherazade (Shahrazad), the young wife of the sultan Schahriar (Shahryar), telling tales to her husband to forestall his plan to kill her. Colourful and highly varied in mood, the work has a recurring violin solo that represents Scheherazade herself and a deep, ponderous theme that corresponds to the sultan. The composition was completed in 1888, and it premiered on November 3 of that year, in Saint Petersburg, with the composer himself conducting.
