Stories Within Stories in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
IV. Festival at Baghdad
Scheherazade, Op. 35
I'm Rimsky-Korsakov, and I'm about to explain the IV. Festival at Baghdad movement of my Scheherazade. You'll listen as this finale brings back tunes from the first three movements and then settles into a peaceful coda, so the whole story feels gathered together at last. Should you want to recognize our pieces the moment they begin, my fellow composers and I can teach you on this site, so see how you do .
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Three Things to Catch Before the Chaos
Before you press play, I'd ask you to listen for three things: the Sultan's heavy, commanding tune, the solo violin with its harp, and the sea. This finale uses the whole orchestra at full stretch, so the cymbals, the bass drum and the tambourine have far more to do here than in the gentler movements. Because it recalls material from the earlier movements, you'll keep meeting melodies you've already heard, like familiar faces turning up in a busy crowd. Don't try to catch everything at once, just follow the Sultan and the violin, and let the rest wash over you.A Title Longer Than Some Voyages
The full title is Festival at Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship Breaks against a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman, which is quite a mouthful for one finale. It is so long because the movement does two jobs, showing you a city celebrating and bringing back the sea from the first movement. In a later edition I took the titles out altogether, because I wanted you to hear oriental-flavoured fairy-tale music rather than follow a fixed programme. So please treat the name as a hint rather than a script, and remember that the tunes are my own ideas, not borrowed Arab melodies.A Shape Without a Textbook Label
Choosing the form for this finale was an adventure in itself, and rather than hang a textbook label on it, I'll describe it the way it feels in the ear. I let five tempo markings divide the movement into scenes: Allegro molto, Lento, Vivo, Allegro non troppo e maestoso and Tempo come I. Along the way the music travels from E minor to E major, and it keeps recalling material from the movements that came before. I'll take the sections one at a time in the next paragraphs, so you can follow the story from the first note to the last.Section 1: The Party Starts Before You Find Your Seat
The movement opens at Allegro molto, which means very fast, and it begins in E minor. There is no slow introduction here, so the festival is already in full swing when you arrive. Tunes from the earlier movements flash past in quick succession, as if the city were introducing its best-known residents one by one. The mood is restless and bright, and it sets up the contrast that the next section is going to deliver.Section 2: Everyone Holds Their Breath
Then the tempo drops to Lento, and the noise of the crowd falls away almost at once. The music slows and stretches out, and the mood turns from celebration to something quiet and a little uneasy. I wanted you to feel a pause here, the kind of silence that comes just before something large happens. Listen for how much space there is between the notes, because that space is what makes the return of the energy so striking.Section 3: Back Into the Crowd
Next comes Vivo, a brisk and lively marking, and the rhythm picks up again with a great deal of energy. The orchestra builds in waves, and you can hear the sea beginning to swell underneath the festival. Here the rhythmic drive is at its most obvious, so you may find your foot tapping without being asked. The excitement keeps climbing, and it leads straight toward the biggest moment in the whole work.Section 4: The Ship Meets the Cliff
This is Allegro non troppo e maestoso, which means fast but not too fast, and with grandeur. The sea rises to a storm, the cymbals and tam-tam crash, and the ship breaks against the cliff with its bronze horseman. You'll also hear the Sultan's heavy motif return, the same one you met in the first movement, now swept up in the turmoil. It is the loudest and most dramatic stretch of the piece, and I wrote it so that you would feel the whole orchestra heave.Section 5: The Storm Goes Home
The last marking is Tempo come I, which simply means a return to the original tempo. After the wreck, the sea settles, and the music arrives at E major, the bright key that the whole journey has been heading toward. The movement ends with a peaceful coda, and the tension of the storm gives way to a long, easy calm. That calm is how I chose to close the whole suite, leaving you with a feeling of rest after a very long night of stories.Press Play and Sail Away
Now it's your turn to hear Festival at Baghdad for yourself, so press play and let the music carry you. While it runs, keep in mind what we talked about, especially the Sultan's tune, the violin, and the sea that rises and falls. You don't need to know any music theory to enjoy it, only a little curiosity and a willingness to be swept along. I hope the journey gives you as much pleasure as it gave me when I wrote it.---
So that's how I bring the whole voyage of Scheherazade to a close. The festival rushes along, the ship meets its dramatic end at the cliff, and then the music recalls the earlier movements and settles into a peaceful coda. I like to think of that ending as the story quietly putting itself to bed. Did you enjoy this walk through the listen guide to Festival at Baghdad? I hope it gave you a few new things to listen for the next time the Sultan's theme and the solo violin return. There is still a good deal more to discover in Scheherazade. You can explore how the other movements are built, how the story of the piece came together, and which moments are the most striking. Please click on the links on this page to keep exploring Scheherazade at your own pace. Whenever you return to the music, I hope you'll hear something you hadn't noticed before.