Editing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (section)

{{Short description|Russian composer (1844–1908)}}
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<!-- Before adding an infobox, please consult [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Composers#Biographical infoboxes]] and seek consensus on this article's talk page. -->[[File:Walentin Alexandrowitsch Serow 004 (cropped 3x4).jpg|upright=1.05|alt=Head of a man with dark greying hair, glasses and a long beard|thumb|{{center|Detail from portrait by [[Valentin Serov]], 1898<br/>[[File:Rimsky-Korsakov Signature.png|frameless|alt=Rimsky-Korsakov's signature]]}}]]
'''Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov'''{{Family name footnote|Andreyevich |Rimsky-Korsakov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{efn|{{lang-rus|Николай Андреевич Римский-Корсаков|Nikolay Andreyevich Rimskiy-Korsakov|p=nʲɪkəˈlaj ɐnˈdrʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈrʲimskʲɪj ˈkorsəkəf|a=Ru-Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.ogg}}. At the time, his name [[Reforms of Russian orthography|was spelled]] {{lang|ru|Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ}}, which he romanized as '''Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow''';<ref>{{cite web |title=Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow: Fantasie de Concert (Si mineur) pour Violon et Orchestre sur des themes russes |url=https://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/24707527/ |publisher=[[Mitrofan Belyayev|M. P. Belaieff]] |access-date=15 January 2021 |location=[[Leipzig]] |date=1912}}</ref> the BGN/PCGN [[Romanization of Russian|transliteration of Russian]] is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: {{transliteration|ru|ALA-LC|Nikolaĭ Andrevich Rimskiĭ-Korsakov}}, ISO 9 system: {{transliteration|ru|ISO|Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Russian – BGN/PCGN transliteration system |url=https://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/russian/bgn-pcgn/ |website=transliteration.com |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref><br/>{{langx|la|Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov}}.}} (18 March 1844 – 21 June 1908){{efn|Russia was still using [[Old style and new style dates|old style dates]] in the 19th century, rendering his lifespan as 6 March 1844&nbsp;– 8 June 1908.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Latham |first1=Alison |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Musical Works |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-861020-5 |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8q3gOcsO9hoC |language=en}}</ref> Some sources in the article report dates as old style rather than new style.}} was a Russian composer, a member of the group of composers known as [[The Five (composers)|The Five]].{{efn|[[The Five (composers)|The Five]], also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia, in the years 1856–1870: [[Mily Balakirev]] (the leader), [[César Cui]], [[Modest Mussorgsky]], Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and [[Alexander Borodin]].}} He was a master of [[orchestration]]. His best-known orchestral compositions—''[[Capriccio Espagnol]]'', the ''[[Russian Easter Festival Overture]]'', and the symphonic [[suite (music)|suite]] ''[[Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov)|Scheherazade]]''—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his fifteen operas. ''Scheherazade'' is an example of his frequent use of [[fairy tale|fairy-tale]] and [[folklore|folk subjects]].

Rimsky-Korsakov believed in developing a [[musical nationalism|nationalistic]] style of classical music, as did his fellow composer [[Mily Balakirev]] and the critic [[Vladimir Stasov]]. This style employed [[Russian traditional music|Russian folk song]] and [[Folklore of Russia|lore]] along with exotic harmonic, [[melody|melodic]] and [[Rhythm#Terminology|rhythmic]] elements in a practice known as musical [[orientalism]], and eschewed traditional Western compositional methods. Rimsky-Korsakov appreciated Western musical techniques after he became a professor of musical composition, [[harmony]], and orchestration at the [[Saint Petersburg Conservatory]] in 1871. He undertook a rigorous three-year program of self-education and became a master of Western methods, incorporating them alongside the influences of [[Mikhail Glinka]] and fellow members of [[The Five (composers)|The Five]]. Rimsky-Korsakov's techniques of composition and orchestration were further enriched by his exposure to the works of [[Richard Wagner]].

For much of his life, Rimsky-Korsakov combined his composition and teaching with a career in the Russian armed forces—first as an officer in the [[Imperial Russian Navy]], then as the civilian Inspector of Naval Bands. He wrote that he developed a passion for the ocean in childhood from reading books and hearing of his older brother's exploits in the navy. This love of the sea may have influenced him to write two of his best-known orchestral works, the musical tableau ''[[Sadko (musical tableau)|Sadko]]'' (not to be confused with his later [[Sadko (opera)|opera of the same name]]) and ''Scheherazade''. As Inspector of Naval Bands, Rimsky-Korsakov expanded his knowledge of woodwind and brass playing, which enhanced his abilities in orchestration. He passed this knowledge to his students, and also posthumously through a textbook on orchestration that was completed by his son-in-law [[Maximilian Steinberg]].

Rimsky-Korsakov left a considerable body of original [[Russian nationalism#Imperial Russian nationalism|Russian nationalist]] compositions. He prepared works by The Five for performance, which brought them into the active classical repertoire (although there is controversy over his editing of the works of [[Modest Mussorgsky]]), and shaped a generation of younger composers and musicians during his decades as an educator. Rimsky-Korsakov is therefore considered "the main architect" of what the classical-music public considers the "Russian style".<ref name="mfw21409"/> His influence on younger composers was especially important, as he served as a transitional figure between the [[autodidacticism|autodidactism]] exemplified by Glinka and The Five, and professionally trained composers, who became the norm in Russia by the closing years of the 19th century. While Rimsky-Korsakov's style was based on those of Glinka, Balakirev, [[Hector Berlioz]], [[Franz Liszt]] and, for a brief period, Wagner, he "transmitted this style directly to two generations of Russian composers" and influenced non-Russian composers including [[Maurice Ravel]], [[Claude Debussy]], [[Paul Dukas]], and [[Ottorino Respighi]].<ref name="abng1634">Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 16:34.</ref>