Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai [Римский-Корсаков, Николай; Rimskij-Korsakov, Nikolaj], b 18 March 1844 in Tikhvin, d 21 June 1908 near Luga, Saint Petersburg gubernia, Russia. Russian composer and conductor. He wrote two operas on Ukrainian subjects based on tales by Nikolai Gogol, May Night (1878) and Christmas Eve (1894–5), and composed the opera Tale of Tsar Saltan (1899–1900), based on Aleksandr Pushkin's tale about fictitious personages from Ukraine's medieval period. His other works include a Ukrainian Fantasia for orchestra, arrangements of ancient chants of the Kyivan Cave Monastery (see Kyivan chant) for male choir a cappella, and Song about Oleh the Seer for male chorus, soloists, and orchestra (1899), based on Pushkin's poem about the Kyivan Rus’ ruler Prince Oleh.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]