Editing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (section)

===Editing the work of The Five===
Rimsky-Korsakov's editing of works by The Five is significant. It was a practical extension of the collaborative atmosphere of The Five during the 1860s and 1870s, when they heard each other's compositions in progress and worked on them together, and was an effort to save works that would otherwise either have languished unheard or become lost entirely. This work included the completion of [[Alexander Borodin]]'s opera ''[[Prince Igor]]'', which Rimsky-Korsakov undertook with the help of Glazunov after Borodin's death,<ref name="maes171"/> and the orchestration of passages from César Cui's ''[[William Ratcliff (Cui)|William Ratcliff]]'' for its first production in 1869.<ref name="abng1628"/> He also completely orchestrated the opera ''[[The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)|The Stone Guest]] by ''[[Alexander Dargomyzhsky]] three times—in 1869–70, 1892 and 1902.<ref name="mfw21401"/> While not a member of The Five himself, Dargomyzhsky was closely associated with the group and shared their musical philosophy.<ref name="abng1628"/>

[[File:Chaliapin Godunov 1912.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A large man wearing a gold embroidered robe and a crown, carrying a large staff|[[Fyodor Chaliapin]] was a powerful exponent of the Rimsky-Korsakov version of ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'', which launched the work in the world's opera houses, but has since fallen out of favor. Portrait by [[Aleksandr Golovin (artist)|Aleksandr Golovin]].]]

Musicologist Francis Maes wrote that while Rimsky-Korsakov's efforts are laudable, they are also controversial. It was generally assumed that with ''Prince Igor'', Rimsky-Korsakov edited and orchestrated the existing fragments of the opera while Glazunov composed and added missing parts, including most of the third act and the overture.<ref>Maes, 182.</ref><ref>Taruskin, ''Music'', 185.</ref> This was exactly what Rimsky-Korsakov stated in his memoirs.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 283.</ref> Both Maes and [[Richard Taruskin]] cite an analysis of Borodin's manuscripts by musicologist Pavel Lamm, which showed that Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov discarded nearly 20 percent of Borodin's score.<ref>Maes, 182–83.</ref> According to Maes, the result is more a collaborative effort by all three composers than a true representation of Borodin's intent.<ref name="maes183">Maes, 183.</ref> Lamm stated that because of the extremely chaotic state of Borodin's manuscripts, a modern alternative to Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov's edition would be extremely difficult to complete.<ref name="maes183"/>

More debatable, according to Maes, is Rimsky-Korsakov's editing of Mussorgsky's works. After Mussorgsky's death in 1881, Rimsky-Korsakov revised and completed several of Mussorgsky's works for publication and performance, helping to spread Mussorgsky's works throughout Russia and to the West. Maes, in reviewing Mussorgsky's scores, wrote that Rimsky-Korsakov allowed his "musical conscience" to dictate his editing, and he changed or removed what he considered musical over-experimentation or poor form.<ref name="Maes181"/> Because of this, Rimsky-Korsakov has been accused of pedantry in "correcting", among other things, matters of harmony. Rimsky-Korsakov may have foreseen questions over his efforts when he wrote,

<blockquote>If Mussorgsky's compositions are destined to live unfaded for fifty years after their author's death (when all his works will become the property of any and every publisher), such an archeologically accurate edition will always be possible, as the manuscripts went to the Public Library on leaving me. For the present, though, there was need of an edition for performances, for practical artistic purposes, for making his colossal talent known, and not for the mere studying of his personality and artistic sins.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 249.</ref></blockquote>

Maes stated that time proved Rimsky-Korsakov correct when it came to posterity's re-evaluation of Mussorgsky's work. Mussorgsky's musical style, once considered unpolished, is now admired for its originality. While Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement of ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]'' is still the version generally performed, Rimsky-Korsakov's other revisions, like his version of ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'', have been replaced by Mussorgsky's original.<ref name="maes115">Maes, 115.</ref>