Brass in Post-Romantic Russian Orchestral Music: a Comparison between the

Implementation of the Trumpet in Rimsky-Korsakovs Scheherazade Op. 35 and

Stravinskys Le Sacre du Printemps

Stephen J. Russell

As Stravinsky expressed his desire to become a composer to Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov in 1902,

he was taken under his tutelage. Form and orchestration in many of his early works (e.g.:

Symphony in Eb Major), were strongly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov. Stravinsky was quoted

as saying, His knowledge was precise, and he was able to impart whatever he knew with great

clarity. His teaching was all technical.1 This paper will focus on the similarities and differences

between the manners in which the two Russian composers implement the trumpet in their

significant orchestral works. Full scores of Le Sacre du Printemps2 and Scheherazade3 will be

the primary focus of the paper as they both feature prominent trumpet parts; both pieces have

featured excerpts that are considered staple examples of orchestral trumpet repertoire. In these

scores, range, articulation, dynamics, and the specific instrumentation of the trumpet section will

be analyzed for comparison between the two works.

Specific sections in Le Sacre du Printemps featuring significant trumpet lines include the

staccatissimo runs on the Trumpet in D during the Dance of the Young Girls. The

implementation of the D trumpet alone is an unusual characteristic of orchestral instrumentation.

The range of the trumpet in orchestral literature generally extends to concert-C6 and rarely

extends above that. The D trumpet part reaches above a concert-D6 and cuts through the
1Igor Stravinsky Foundation: Biography 2010. [Web Site] The Russian Period: 1902-1914.

2010. [Description of Stravinskys relationship with Rimsky-Korsakov.] Site address:

http://www.fondation-igor-stravinsky.org/web/en/biographie/sa-vie-son-uvre/-la-periode-
russen-1902-1914.html
remainder of the orchestra when played.2 The first movement of Scheherazade features a

Trumpet in C playing elongated, accented notes. Pitch does not go above a concert-A5, and the

accented notes are implied to be treated with longer releases.3

2 Igor Stravinsky, Le Sacre du Printemps (London: Boosey & Hawkes, 2013), Facsimile
3 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade (New York: Dover Publications, 1984)