The Second Version of The Pskov Maid in the Context of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Opera Legacy
Abstract
The article is devoted to the second version of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Pskov
Maiden” (1876–1877). This version was written by the composer during the time of his independent
studies and beginning of work at the Conservatory and has become the most significant composition
of this period. Nonetheless, it became virtually unnoticed in music history – there was no production at
the Mariinsky Theater, despite the composer’s wishes, neither the piano-vocal score, nor the full score
was published, and as the result this version was preserved only in the form of segmental manuscripts.
We have undertaken a textological research of the preserved fragments, for the first time having
provided a scholarly generalization of their entire core, and having made a list of all the available
materials (according to the sources from the Manuscript Section of the Russian National Library),
and the attempt has been made to compare and juxtapose them with the plan of the opera contained
in one of the manuscripts, and to present Rimsky-Korsakov’s initial conception most completely.
A comparative analysis of all three editions of the opera is made, particularly, their scenario plans –
detailed research is made of the differences of dramaturgy and composition of all the opera’s versions;
conclusions are made about the integrality and artistic value of the second version.
In addition to this, the article examines the reception of the second version, as well as the
attitudes towards the entire work, as well as to separate episodes from it, in particular, of the
composer himself, his associates from the “Mighty Handful,” the composer’s wife Nadezhda
Nikolayevna and the greatest researcher of his works Vassily Yastrebtsev, and subsequently – of the
researchers engaged in studying this version of the opera. In conclusion, the hypothesis is brought
out, according to which the negative attitude towards the second version of the “Pskov Maid” has
gained a foothold in musicology and in publication practice for the most part as the result of the
composer’s own opinion about his own composition, without any detailed critical analysis of the
musical text. In our opinion, such a position may be reevaluated, after the score is assembled from
the existing fragments, which will make it possible to evaluate its position in Rimsky-Korsakov’s
musical legacy in a more precise or objective manner.
Keywords: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, opera “The Pskov Maid,” second version, textology.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33779/2587-6341.2021.3.145-153
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