Polovesian Dances

Alexander Borodin (St. Petersburg, 12 November 1833 – St. Petersburg, 27 February 1887) was a scholar, a composer and an illustrious doctor and chemist.

He grew up with his mother in the city of St. Petersburg in a wealthy family background, where he received a good general education and soon revealed himself to be exceptionally gifted in his multiple abilities to learn various languages ​​(German, French, Italian and English). piano, flute and cello from the age of nine.

His main work remained that of a chemist and Borodin was responsible for important discoveries. This did not prevent him from becoming famous as a composer at all.

Prince Igor is, in this sense, one of the most complete and convincing achievements of Russian musical theatre.

The Polovtsian Dances, of which the Eufonia Editions propose a new arrangement here, belong to the Second Act of this Opera which was completed by Rimsky Korsakov after the death of Borodin himself.

In fact, it was after his death that his two most faithful friends Alexander Glazunov and Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov rearranged all of Borodin's material and it was thanks to them that in 1890 Prince Igor was released in its definitive version as we know it today.

The piece can also be performed without choir.