Alexander Borodin: Prince Igor - Polovtsian Dances (Andrzej Kucybała)

Composer: Alexander Borodin (1833-1887)

There are slight discrepancies between the audio and video (between 08:37 and 09:01).

This opera chorus, perhaps Borodin's most famous composition, is part of a relatively neglected opera outside Russia, Prince Igor. The four-act opera lay unfinished at Borodin's death in 1887 despite his working on it for eighteen years, and it was completed by two fellow Russian composers, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (himself famous for a handful of works) and Aleksandr Glazunov, within the following year.

The première of the complete opera took place in 1890 in St Petersburg; selections, including the Polovtsian Dances, were performed as early as 1879. What may surprise some is that the original sketches of Borodin were only published in 2012: 125 years after Borodin's death.

The Polovtsian Dances conclude the second act, where the slaves sing of Konchak (a Polovtsian khan) and his glory. The dances were completed in sketch form in 1875. However, it was orchestrated by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Anatoly Lyadov in 1879 in preparation for the first performance.

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DISCLAIMER: The score used in this video is in the public domain worldwide. As per the description of this channel, I do not own any of the content in this video.