Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – From Homer [Iz Gomera] op. 60 (1901)

(b. Tikhvin nr. Novgorod, 18 March 1844 – d. St. Petersburg, 21 June 1908

Preface

“On entering the Atlantic our clipper encountered stubborn head winds which often attained the force of gales. Though under full sail, we often literally made no headway for days at a time, owing to the strong contrary winds. The weather was quite cold and damp. Frequently no cooking was done, since the clipper rolled horribly under the huge waves. [We] noticed one fine day that we were entering the area of [a hurricane]. A sharp fall in the barometer and a closeness in the air announced its approach. The wind grew stronger and stronger and constantly changed its direction from left to right. Enormous waves were raised. We kept under one small sail. Night came and the lightning flashed. The rolling of the sea was terrific. […] I remember how surprised and delighted we were, when we went on deck in the morning, to see the colour of the ocean utterly changed: from green-grey, it had turned to a wonderful blue.”

As a sea cadet, the young Rimsky-Korsakov spent three years (1862-65) aboard a ship on the Atlantic; frequently-cited passages from his memoir describe changing weather and phosphorescent blue hues very impressionably. Three decades later, on a walk along the beaches of Odessa, he was struck on the fleeting idea of setting a text by Homer to music. But it wasn’t until 1901 that he discussed the topic with Vladimir Bel’sky in depth, asking him for a draft for an opera about Nausicaa. Bel’sky, however, was simultaneously working on the libretto for The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya and kept Rimsky waiting on both counts. Therefore, for lack of a libretto, the composer started to work on “a small sketch from the Odyssey” in July. Rimsky’s letters to the singer Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel′ show that he had finished and orchestrated the piece in August, but thought the development of a whole opera improbable at that time already. Vasily Yastrebtsev reports that he had given up on the opera completely in September, also owing to the fact that he didn’t consider Nausicaa’s love for Odysseus an attractive topic anymore.

The German version of the text, depicted by the orchestra and later recited by female voices, follows the Odyssey as translated by Voß. It portrays the safe arrival of Odysseus, who has been shipwrecked during a powerful tempest, on the shore of Scheria. Initially, the prelude-cantata now entitled From Homer was to serve as an overture to the opera Nausicaa, and the curtain to rise – after the orchestral storm – as the dryads sing to greet Dawn. …

Read full preface / Komplettes Vorwort lesen > HERE