Polovtsian Dances

The Polovtsian Dances, or Polovetsian Dances (Russian: Половецкие пляски, Polovetskie plyaski from the Russian "Polovtsy"—the name given to the Kipchaks and Cumans by the Rus' people) form an exotic scene at the end of Act II of Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.

The work remained unfinished when the composer died in 1887, although he had worked on it for more than a decade. A performing version was prepared by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov, appearing in 1890. Several other versions, or "completions," of the opera have been made. The dances are performed with chorus and last between 11 and 14 minutes. They occur in Act I or Act II, depending on which version of the opera is being used. Their music is popular and sometimes given in concert as an orchestral showpiece. At such performances the choral parts are often omitted. The opera also has a "Polovtsian March," which opens Act III, and an overture at the start. When the dances are given in concert, a suite may be formed: Overture, Polovtsian Dances and March from "Prince Igor."

Ballets Russes performances

As part of his first "Saison Russe" at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Sergei Diaghilev presented Polovtsian Scenes and Dances, consisting of Act II of Prince Igor, with full orchestra and singers. The premiere took place on 18 May 1909. The choreography was by Michel Fokine and the sets and costumes were designed by Nicholas Roerich. In later seasons, without singers, the work was given as The Polovtsian Dances. For the 1923 season, it was partly re-choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska.^[1]

Dances

	Dance No. 8 Performed in 1913 at the Berlin State Opera by the Staatskapelle Berlin. (4:00)
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The first dance, which uses no chorus and is sometimes omitted in concerts, is No. 8, entitled "Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens" ["Пляска половецких девушек"]: presto, 6/8, F major; it is placed directly after the "Chorus of the Polovtsian Maidens," which opens the act and is followed by "Konchakovna's Cavatina". The dances proper appear at the end of the Act as an uninterrupted single number in several contrasting sections listed as follows (basic themes are indicated with letters in brackets and notated in the accompanying illustration)

• No. 17, "Polovtsian Dance with Chorus" ["Половецкая пляска с хором"]
  • [a] Introduction: Andantino, 4/4, A major
  • [b] Gliding Dance of the Maidens [Пляска девушек плавная]: Andantino, 4/4, A major
  • [c + a] Wild Dance of the Men [Пляска мужчин дикая]: Allegro vivo, 4/4, F major
  • [d] General Dance [Общая пляска]: Allegro, 3/4, D major
  • [e] Dance of the Boys [Пляска мальчиков] and 2nd Dance of the Men [Пляска мужчин]: Presto, 6/8, D minor
  • [b’ + e’] Gliding Dance of the Maidens (reprise, soon combined with the faster dancing of the boys): Moderato alla breve, 2/2, A major
  • [e’’] Dance of the Boys and 2nd Dance of the Men (reprise): Presto, 6/8, D minor
  • [c’ + a’’] General Dance: Allegro con spirito, 4/4, A major

Notable instrumental solos include the clarinet (in No. 8 and the Men's Dance [c]) and the oboe and English horn (in the Women's Dance [b]).

Translation

The text of the first stanza of this particular section in the opera is given below.

The English translation of the remaining is:

POLOVTSIANS
Sing songs of praise to the Khan! Sing!
Praise the power and valor of the Khan!
Praise the glorious Khan!
He is glorious, our Khan!
In the brilliance of his glory,
The Khan is equal to the sun!
There is none equal to the Khan in glory, None!
The Khan female slaves praise the Khan,
Their Khan!

KONCHAK [the Khan]
Do you see the captives
From the distant sea;
Do you see my beauties,
From beyond the Caspian Sea?
Oh, tell me, friend,
Tell me just one word:
If you want to,
I will give you anyone of them.

POLOVTSIANS
Sing songs of praise to the Khan! Sing!
Praised be his generosity, praised be his mercy!
Praise him!
To his enemies the Khan is merciless
He, our Khan!
Who may equal the Khan in glory, who?
In the brilliance of his glory,
He is equal to the sun!
Our Khan, Khan Konchak, is equal
In glory to his forefathers!
The terrible Khan Konchak is equal
In glory to his forefathers! Glorious is our Khan Konchak!
Glory, glory!

ALL THE SLAVES
(Repeats the opening stanza)

POLOVTSIANS
Our Khan, Khan Konchak, is equal
In glory to his forefathers!
The grim Khan Konchak is equal
In glory to his forefathers!
Glory, glory to Khan Konchak!
Khan Konchak!
With your dancing entertain the Khan,
Dance to entertain the Khan, slaves!
Your Khan!
Dance to entertain the Khan, slaves!
Your Khan!
With your dancing entertain the Khan!
Entertain with dancing!
Our Khan Konchak!^[4]

References in popular culture

	Some Polovtsian Dances (1:36) Some Polovtsian Dances performed by Daniel Bautista (fragment).
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Most of the themes from No. 17 were incorporated into the 1953 musical Kismet, best known of which is the women's dance ("Gliding Dance of the Maidens"), adapted for the song "Stranger in Paradise". Thirteen years earlier, in 1940, Artie Shaw recorded "My Fantasy" (credited to composers Paul Whiteman, Jack Meskill, and Leo Edwards), which has a tune virtually identical to this dance. Paul Whiteman adapted the music from the Polovtsian Dances theme from Prince Igor (1890). The Paul Whiteman Orchestra recorded "My Fantasy" in 1939.

A hip-hop song version of the music was produced by Warren G and Sissel Kyrkjebø for the album The Rhapsody, simply entitled "Prince Igor". The single was released in 1997, along with the album.

The theme was also used in the Massive Attack song "Karmacoma", from the album Protection in 1994. The theme also appears on a 2015 music album entitled Classical Made Modern.^[5]

The heavy metal song Lonely Winds of War by Masterplan also uses the melody in the chorus.

More recent adaptations of the music include the following:

• Julio Iglesias recorded the Polovtsian Dances under the title Quiéreme in his album Emociones, a Spanish homage to Borodin's masterpiece.
• British string quartet bond recorded an instrumental version of the women's dance in their album Shine, renamed "Strange Paradise" to fit with Kismet's use of the melody.
• Different adaptations of No. 17 "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" have been featured as background music in several Japanese animated TV series, including Princess Tutu, Noir, Kare Kano and Blood Blockade Battlefront, while it is given a special significance in RahXephon. The track "The Garden of Everything" on the top 10 Maaya Sakamoto single "Tune the Rainbow" uses it as a sub-melody. Polovtsian Dance was also Hideaki Anno's original choice to open Neon Genesis Evangelion before A Cruel Angel's Thesis was produced.
• An arranged version of the song was used in the Nintendo DS game Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times and played on clear summer evenings.
• An arranged version of the song was created and used as the opening theme to the PlayStation 2 video game, The Sword of Etheria. The vocals are performed by Martha Matsuda. This arrangement was adapted for 'Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2.'
• An arranged version of the song was used as one of the themes for the puzzle stages in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 video game, Catherine.
• A remixed version of the song is used in the level Sarumon's Castle in the PlayStation 2 game Ape Escape 3.
• The opening theme of the 2012 Japanese anime series "Appleseed XIII" is an adaptation of the original melody.
• A piano version of Polovtsian Dance #2 is used in the Burial at Sea, episode 1 expansion for Bioshock: Infinite.
• In the 1970s there was a television commercial for a classical music compilation set that tried to hook viewers by arguing that many of their favorite tunes were actually classical pieces. The narrator (British actor John Williams) speaks at one point, with "Stranger in Paradise" playing in the background, and says, "You may think of this as 'Stranger in Paradise,' but did you know it was from the Polovtsian Dance Number 2 by Borodin?"
• Polovtsian Dances was used a large number of times throughout the film Fire Maidens of Outer Space
• The "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" section is played, to suggest loneliness and despair, during the pilot episode of the cartoon series "Ren and Stimpy" when Ren and Stimpy are jailed at the dog pound.
• The "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" was performed at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
• The music was used in a Turf Builder commercial that aired during the 2016 NCAA broadcast on CBS.
• The "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" is depicted as being played by the Minami Middle School concert band in season 2, episode 1 of the 2016 Japanese anime Sound! Euphonium.

See also

• Cumans - the Cumans were called Polovtsy by the Rus'

References

• Borodin, A. Le Prince Igor. Partition pour chant et piano. Edition M.P. Belaieff. (Russian, French, and German text.)

External links

Free scores of Polovtsian Dances in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)

Alexander Borodin
Operas	Prince Igor (1869–1887) Mlada (1872)
Other compositions	Symphony No. 2 (1869–1876) In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880) String Quartet No. 2 (1881) Scherzo in A-flat major (1885) Polovtsian Dances Petite Suite
Related articles	The Five Mount Borodin
List of compositions by Alexander Borodin