Brief Listening Guide: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade by Linda Shamoon
1. Important information to keep in mind while listening to Scheherazade a. Rimsky gave the following explanation: “All I desired was that the hearer, if he liked
my piece as symphonic music, should carry away the impression that it is beyond a doubt an Oriental narrative of some numerous and varied fairy-tale wonders and not merely four pieces played one after the other and composed on the basis of themes common to all the four movements.”
b. Rimsky tried to find a middle ground between “Program” music and “Absolute Music” by calling Scheherazade a ‘suite’ instead of a symphony, but writing it in four movements like a symphony, and by invoking the frame of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales, but asking the audience not to put the details of the stories into each movement.
c. Rimsky did not follow the structure of the Sonata form, and relied on repeated, slowly evolving thematic melodies to add unity passed from instrument to instrument to add unity. He used unresolved harmonic sequences to add tension.
2. Listen for how Rimsky preserves the 1001 Arabian Nights’ framing story of the Sultan vs.
Scheherazade. Listen for this from the opening notes of this symphonic suite to its final closing notes, listen for the Sultan’s threatening signature melody, usually played immediately before or after Scheherazade’s sweet, but increasingly sophisticated signature line. Here are some excerpts:
• Sultan’s wicked voice, Scheherazade’s innocent voice: 0 – 1:16, • Scheherazade at the start of the 2nd movement, wait for the double stops: 9:05-
9:41, • The final movement, when the Sultan insists on the hearing the stories’ endings,
right now! And listen to Scheherazade’s response: 32:40 – 33:55 • Who will have the final word? Listen: 42:00 – to end
3. Rimsky was a master of orchestration and instrumentation, and he also liked to use layers of
melodies and suspended harmonies to evoke moods and scenes. • Listen to these evocative, layered and elongated passages: Sinbad at sea 3:00 –
5:10; the new love of the young prince and princess: 20:37 – 22:37 • Listen for the evocation of adventure and danger in these passages: 12:50 – 15:10;
and 38:00 – 40:14 • As you listen and watch on Saturday evening, keep your eye on the harp, the
bassoons, oboes, flutes, clarinets, triangle and snare drum. Enjoy the way Rimsky handles these to evoke a faraway place, an imagined land.
4. Ultimately, this is Scheherazade’s story. Which Scheherazade do you hear? (next page):
