Written to celebrate the 25th year of Alexander II's reign, this work was dedicated to Franz Liszt, and opens with a quiet, bare high E on the violins that depicts the desolation of the title locale.
Written to celebrate the 25th year of Alexander II's reign, this work was dedicated to Franz Liszt, and opens with a quiet, bare high E on the violins that depicts the desolation of the title locale. An English horn then comes in and its oriental theme is meant to suggest a band of native merchants. As in his unfinished Prince Igor, the composer uses a Russian folk song that emerges out of the background, though here it is accompanied by a pizzicato string theme, suggesting camels crossing the sand. For 10 points, identify this tone poem named for the plain region of a large continent, a work by Alexander Borodin.
Written to celebrate the 25th year of Alexander II's reign, this work was dedicated to Franz Liszt, and opens with a quiet, bare high E on the violins that depicts the desolation of the title locale.
{In the Steppes of Central Asia}