Prince Igor: Polovtsian March

Main page for Prince Igor

• This movement is a triumphal procession of the Polovtsians, returning from the destruction of Putivl, Prince Igor’s village.¹
• “Polovtsy” was a Russian name for a Turkic people group.²
• Borodin based the Polovtsian music in Prince Igor on the style of actual folk music from Arabia and Turkey, roughly the geographical regions of the real “Polovtsians.”³

1. Richard Taruskin, “Prince Igor,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 5, 2019,  https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000005840.
2. “Polovtsy,” Encyclopedia of Russian History, Encyclopedia.com, accessed August 5, 2019,  https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/polovtsy.
3. Taruskin, “Prince Igor,” Grove Music Online.