Polovtsian Dances for flute sextet

This widely popular work has continuously found its way into the mainstream of classical performers. Borodin was an accomplished Russian composer, in addition to being a very successful research chemist by profession. Though he worked on this music that embraces his local folk tunes for more than a decade, it remained unfinished upon his death in 1887. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov worked together to complete Prince Igor, the opera in which the dances appear along with a chorus. During subsequent years, the instrumental music alone is often performed as an orchestral showpiece and sections of it are often featured in unrelated contexts. This arrangement for flute choir is a welcome addition to the repertoire, and can be done by 7 flutists (including piccolo), or expanded to the fullness of a complete flute orchestra with alto, bass, and contrabass flutes.

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