Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34

The piece unfolds as five connected movements, played without long breaks, each built around a melody with a Spanish flavor.

Alborada: A bright morning dance tune shoots out immediately, tossed between full orchestra and a solo violin that darts through fast, showy passages.

Variazioni: A slower, warmer theme, first sung by the horns, passes through a series of variations, giving woodwinds and strings each a turn to color it differently.

Alborada: The opening dance returns, now led by the clarinet instead of the violin, brighter and quicker the second time through.

Scena e canto gitano: A set of soloist cadenzas, one after another for horn and trumpet, violin, flute, clarinet, and harp, imitating the free, improvised feel of Roma folk fiddling before the full orchestra sweeps in.

Fandango asturiano: A stomping dance in triple meter, driven by castanets and brass, builds toward a final return of the opening alborada theme at full volume, ending the piece in a rush.

Listen especially for the concertmaster's extended violin solos in the first and fourth movements, and for the parade of solo instruments in the gypsy song section.

Rimsky-Korsakov wrote Capriccio espagnol in 1887, originally planning it as a virtuoso piece for solo violin and orchestra before recasting it as a showcase for the whole ensemble. He had already used Spanish-tinged material in an earlier work and drew on printed collections of Spanish folk and dance tunes rather than travel to Spain himself. He conducted the premiere in St. Petersburg in 1887, and the orchestra reportedly applauded the piece during rehearsal, before it had even reached the public. It was an immediate success and remained one of his most performed works. Rimsky-Korsakov himself later wrote that he considered it a brilliant piece of orchestration rather than merely a display of Spanish color, since the melodic and harmonic material is comparatively simple.