Borodin, Polovtsian Dances

At the death of Alexander Borodin (1833-1887), his opera Prince Igor remained unfinished. The opera would be completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov in 1890, and other “completions” would be made as well. The opera has since worked its way into the world of popular music, particularly with the song “Stranger in Paradise” from the 1953 musical Kismet. The entire musical is largely based on Borodin’s music.

But the Polovtsian Dances had achieved a life of their own much earlier. They were staged as Polovtsian Scenes and Dances in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes in Paris and were given many subsequent performances. Perhaps as a result, they also became popular as stand-alone pieces in concert. 

The opera tells the 12th-century tale of Igor’s campaigns against nomadic invaders, and its exotic melodies resonated with Western audiences.

Borodin’s professional training was in medicine and chemistry. He founded and taught at the Saint Petersburg School for Medicine for Women. He was a member of “the Mighty Handful” (Могучая кучка) or “the Five,” along with Balakirev, Cui, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov. The five were distinct for not having traditional conservatory training and for taking Russian music in a new direction, toward a more nationalist style and away from the forms prevalent in Western Europe.