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BORODIN – Song ‘The Sleeping Princess’ (1867) – SOLO CELLO AND STRING ORCHESTRA

Other Identification:
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12th November 1833 – 27th February 1887) was a romantic composer and chemist of Georgian-Russian extraction. He was one of the prominent 19th-century composers known as “The Five”, a group dedicated to producing a “uniquely Russian” kind of classical music. Borodin is known best for his symphonies, his two string quartets, the symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia and his opera ‘Prince Igor’.

“The Sleeping Princess” // “Spyashchaya Knyazhna” was Borodin’s first published song in 1873 although he was well practised in the form, and shocked the Russian musical scene with its bold use of dissonance and unconventional harmony way ahead of its time. The composer’s use of unresolved 2nds and the whole tone scale has been highlighted by musicologists as a type of “pre-impressionism” – compositional techniques that would later influence Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky.

Movements or sections:
The soloist/vocal line has some lyricism, but often intones Borodin’s dark, fairy-tale poem and allows for an intense expressiveness. Certain melodic and textual fragments repeat throughout the song which -combined with the fantastical music – create a compelling aura of unsettling mystery. It should not be surprising therefore that Rimsky-Korsakov later orchestrated the song as a poem for voice and orchestra. Johnstone’s setting with string orchestra gives an equal opportunity for instrumental soloists. A very useful addition to concert repertoire….

Instrumentation: SOLO CELLO AND STRING ORCHESTRA
Arranged by David Johnstone

This music is in 3 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – Soloist Part
[3 – All individual orchestral parts

Approximate difficulty: Soloist – MEDIUM

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable): This arrangement featuring violoncello soloist is dedicated to Alejandro Saúl Martínez González

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