Stenka Razin (Glazunov)

Razin and his mistress, a captured Persian princess, are afloat on a richly caparisoned boat on the River Volga.

There, in one version of the story, the princess relates an ominous dream, warning of imminent disaster and her own death in the river.

A gentler central section (Allegro moderato) features a contrasting clarinet melody in the major a semitone lower and was claimed to be of Persian origin;[5] this theme, sensual and undulating in Russian orientalist fashion,[6] portrays the princess.

The two themes, singly and in conjunction, provide the substance for the central development section, culminating in the graphic depiction of the princess's death.

[1][4] The work was premiered in St. Petersburg on November 23, 1885 in a concert, arranged at Mitrofan Belyayev's expense, conducted by the Rimsky-Korsakov pupil Georgi Ottonovich Dutsch.