Flight of the Bumblebee
Flight of the Bumblebee is an orchestral interlude in the third act of the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Nikolai Rimsky -Korsakov in 1899 /1900. It is one of the pieces of the popular romantic classical music that are known worldwide and exist in numerous arrangements, orchestrations and transcriptions. The piece is a popular choice of virtuoso musicians and orchestras as an encore at concerts.
Background
The Russian composer Rimsky -Korsakov owes its fame mainly his orchestral works, in particular the Flight of the Bumblebee from the opera mentioned. In this rarely performed opera in the West on a libretto by Vladimir Bjelski, where a tale of Alexander Pushkin is based on the enchanted and transformed into a bumblebee Prince Gwidon brings two evil sisters aimed punches to silence.
Musical structure
Characteristic of the Flight of the Bumblebee, the virtuoso composer onomatopoeia that takes place in the form of chromatically arranged sixteenth notes in 2/4-cycle almost through the entire piece, as well as the consistently high tempo Vivace ( lively). The metronome is set at = 180, the quarter note should therefore be played at 180 beats per minute. Computationally get away with it 720 sixteenth notes to 60 seconds, or 12 notes per second.
Written is the Flight of the Bumblebee in the key of A minor and extends in the original version of the opera about 113 cycles. In addition, Rimsky -Korsakov has released a suite of instrumental pieces from his opera, in which the Bumblebee flight was much more extensive instrumentation and expanded by a few bars. Here the flight takes about three minutes and 20 seconds. The chromatic input motif is played first in this suite by the flutes and violins, later alternately take the clarinets, horns and other wind instruments on the subject up to a tonstarken Tutti, then the dynamics weakens the conclusion significantly. Rimsky- Korsakov used in his operas, as then prevalent, the compositional technique of leitmotif. Two themes accompany the prince turned to Hummel Gwidon on his flight. The first chromatically altered, appears immediately after the input chord, the second occurs first in time 45.
Involvement in the plot
This text is singing the swan bird a fairy Gwidon who expresses the desire invisible to follow a departing ship can turn, immediately before the Flight of the Bumblebee:
ЛЕБЕДЬ - ПТИЦА: Ну, теперь, мой шмель, гуляй, судно в море догоняй, потихоньку опускайся, в щель подальше забивайся. Будь здоров, Гвидон лети, только долго не гости! ( Шмель улетает. )
Swan bird:
Well, you Hummel, you ecause fine,
Go get the ship in the sea one! ,
Sink you down to the deck,
Search a safe hiding place.
Farewell Guidon
Adaptations and interpretations
Several composers worked the Flight of the Bumblebee. Paul Siguir wrote in 1929 a version for piano and oboe. Sergei Rachmaninoff transcribed for piano solo, the piece in 1931. György Cziffra arranged a highly virtuosic piano version.
For some time trying musician playing the Flight of the Bumblebee faster, such as the violinist Ben Lee, the piece in 64.21 seconds played in 2010 and is therefore listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. Previously, the violinist David Garrett held the record with 65.25 seconds.
The pianist Lang Lang interpreted the piece in 2010 as an encore of a concert in San Francisco on an iPad.
Flight of the Bumblebee was also taken up by rock musicians and the music style Metal. There are interpretations of the bands Europe, Anvil ( under the title Flight of the Bumble Beast on the album Strength of Steel ), Manowar ( under the title Sting of the Bumblebee on Kings of Metal) and Dream Theater (as part of a solo at Once in a Live Time). As a sample, it was used in Michael Jackson's song Breaking News.
Preview
( Flight of the Bumblebee is to listen for string orchestra here in a shortened version, played by an orchestra of the U.S. Army )