Khovanshchina, Act 4, Sc. 1: Dance of the Persian Slaves: Full Orchestra, Full Score

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) began working on the 'national music drama' KHOVANSHCHINA (THE KHOVANSKY AFFAIR) in 1872 and up through 1880, although the piano score remained barely unfinished at the time of his death. Writing the libretto himself based on historical sources, Mussorgsky's opera in five acts relates the 1682 rebellion of Prince Ivan Khovansky and the Old Believers against the regent Sofia Alekseyevna and the two young joint Tsars Peter the Great and Ivan V. As the work was almost wholly in piano score format when the composer died, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov undertook to complete, revise, and orchestrate the opera between 1881 and 1882. The world premiere of the Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration took place in St. Petersburg on February 21, 1886, presented by artists of the Russian Opera Society. The DANCE OF THE PERSIAN SLAVES occurs during Scene 1 of Act 4. Prince Khovansky is being entertained by the women of his retinue when a servant warns him of danger. He ignores the warning, has the servant flogged, then orders his Persian slaves to dance for him. The character Shaklovity then enters, stabs the prince to death. While most of the opera was orchestrated after Mussorgsky's death, Rimsky-Korsakov orchestrated this dance with Mussorgsky's approval in 1876. Instrumentation: 2+Picc.2+EH.2.2: 4.2.3.1: Timp.Perc(4): Hp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set). The English Horn solo at the beginning may be doubled by either of the Oboe players. A separate player is not required. Reprint edition.