Capriccio espagnol

• Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his Kaprichchio na ispanskiye temï, Op. 34 (Spanish capriccio) in 1887.¹
• The composer conducted the Imperial Russian Opera Orchestra in the work’s premiere on October 31, 1887, in St. Petersburg. Rimsky-Korsakov dedicated the piece to the musicians of the Imperial Russian Opera.²

“It is intended as a brilliant composition for the orchestra. The change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns, exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments, etc., constitute here the very essence of the composition and not its garb or orchestration. The Spanish themes of dance character furnished me with rich material for putting in use multiform orchestral effects. All in all, the Capriccio is undoubtedly a purely external piece, but vividly brilliant for all that.”

Rimsky-Korsakov, on his Capriccio espagnol (so humble)³

1. Marina Frolova-Walker, Mark Humphreys, Lyle Neff, Rita McAllister, Iosif Genrikhovich Rayskin, and Detlef Gojowy, “Rimsky-Korsakov family,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed April 1, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000052074.
2. “Spanish Capriccio, Op.34 (Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai),” IMSLP, accessed April 1, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Spanish_Capriccio%2C_Op.34_(Rimsky-Korsakov%2C_Nikolay).
3. Quoted in Orrin Howard, “Capriccio espagnol: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,” Los Angeles Philharmonic, accessed April 1, 2021, https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/1168/capriccio-espagnol.