e. For many years he was an officer in the Russian
navy and throughout his life was involved with official duties. Yet he
found time for a number of compositions of originality and finished
workmanship. These comprise the symphonic poems _Antar_, _Sadko_ and
_Scheherazade_;[320] a _Spanish Caprice_ for full orchestra; twelve
operas of which the best known in this country is the fascinating _Le
Coq d'Or_; a concerto for pianoforte and orchestra; a large number of
songs and many choruses for men's and women's voices. His treatises on
harmony and orchestration are standard works, the latter being the
authority in modern treatment of the orchestra. His _Scheherazade_ is
undoubtedly the most brilliant descriptive work in modern literature,
for an account of which we quote the eloquent words of Philip Hale.

[Footnote 320: This work in structure is a Suite, _i.e._, there are
four distinct, separated movements.]

"_Scheherazade_ (Op. 35) is a suite inspired by the Arabian Nights.
The Sultan, persuaded of the falseness and faithlessness of woman, had
sworn to put every one of his wives to death in turn after the first
night. But Scheherazade saved her life by interesting him in the
stories she told him for a thousand and one nights. Many marvels were
told by her in Rimsky-Korsakoff's fantastic poem,--marvels and tales
of adventure: 'The Sea and Sinbad's Ship'; 'The Story of the Three
Kalandars'; 'The Young Prince and the Young Princess'; 'The Festival
at Bagdad'; 'The Ship that went to pieces against a rock surmounted by
a bronze warrior.' As in Berlioz's _Fantastic Symphony_, so in this
suite, there is a theme which keeps appearing in all four movements.
For the most part it is given to a solo violin. It is a free melodic
phrase in Oriental bravura, gently ending in a free cadenza. There is
no development of themes in this strange work. There is constant
repetition in different tonalities; there is an exceedingly skillful
blending of timbres; there is a keen sense of possible orchestral
effects. A glance at the score shows how sadly the pedagogue might go
astray in judgment of the work, without a hearing of it, and
furthermore, the imagination of the hearer must be in sympathy with
the imagination of the composer, if he would know full enjoyment: for
this symphonic poem provokes swooning thoughts, such as come to the
partakers of leaves and flowers of hemp; there are the stupefying
perfumes of charred frankincense and grated