Flight of the Bumblebee
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| Flight of the Bumblebee | |
|---|---|
| Interlude by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | |
| Native name | Полёт шмеля |
| Key | A minor, B minor, F♯ minor[1] |
| Year | 1900 |
| Genre | Classical music |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 3 November 1900 |
| Location | Solodovnikov Theatre, Moscow |
"Flight of the Bumblebee" (Russian: Полёт шмеля) is an orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899–1900.[1] This perpetuum mobile is intended to musically evoke the seemingly chaotic and rapidly changing flying pattern of a bumblebee.[2] Despite the piece's being a rather incidental part of the opera, it is today one of the more familiar classical works because of its frequent use in popular culture.[3]
The piece is recognizable for its frantic pace when played up to tempo, with nearly uninterrupted runs of chromatic sixteenth notes.[1] This rapidity, measured at 144 beats per minute, evokes the skittish and frenetic activity of a bumblebee.[1]
Because of the music's speed and complexity, it requires a great deal of skill to perform and is often chosen by musicians wishing to showcase their ability.[3]
Within the opera
[edit]_-_costume_of_humblebee.jpg)
The piece closes act 3, tableau 1, during which the magic Swan-Bird changes Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into an insect so that he can fly away to visit his father, the tsar.
Following is the text of the scene where the Swan-Bird sings during this music:
Russian
(Гвидон спускается с берега в море.
Из моря вылетает шмель,
кружась около Лебедь-Птицы.)
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.)
(Gvidon goes down from the shore into the sea.
Out from the sea flies a bumblebee,
whirling around the Swan-Bird.)
Swan-Bird:
Well, now, my bumblebee, go on a spree,
catch up with the ship on the sea,
go down secretly,
get deep into a crack.
Good luck, Gvidon, fly,
only do not stay long![3]
(The bumblebee flies away.)
Reception
[edit]
In 2021, researchers examined the enduring popularity of the piece by investigating its statistics within the musical service Spotify.[1] They found that the piece was represented by more than 1000 different recordings.[1] Among those recordings, the two most popular were performed by Columbia Symphony Orchestra in 1963, and London Symphony Orchestra in 2008.[1] Between them, these two recordings had an audience of 8,000,000 listeners.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Prendergast, Kit; Garcia, Jai; Howard, Scarlett; Ren, Zong-Xin; McFarlane, Stuart J.; Dyer, Adrian G. (2022). "Bee Representations in Human Art and Culture through the Ages; ch. 5.2. Nineteenth-Century Bee Voice and Beyond". Art & Perception. 10 (1): 1–62. doi:10.1163/22134913-bja10031. ISSN 2213-4905.
- ↑ Wheldon, Julie (29 November 2005). "Flight of the Bumblebee Explained". Daily Mail.
- 1 2 3 "The flight of the Bumblebee". Musical Opinion. 132 (1469): 22. 2009.
External links
[edit]- "Flight of the Bumblebee" (act 3): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Robert Cummings. The Flight of the Bumble Bee, musical picture for orchestra (from The Tale of Tsar Saltan) at AllMusic
| Operas |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orchestral works |
| ||||||||||
| Concertos | |||||||||||
| Cultural depictions | |||||||||||
| Family |
| ||||||||||
| Related articles | |||||||||||
