Russlan and Ludmilla

Mikhail Glinka

General Info

Year: 1842 / 1973
Duration: c. 5:45
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Hindsley Transcriptions, distributed through C. L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score and Parts - $77.00 | Score Only - $19.00 | Oversize Score - $35.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani

Errata

The spelling of the transliteration of the title of Glinka's opera is uncertain. The Encyclopedia Britannica, International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) and Wikipedia prefer Ruslan and Lyudmila. However, some arrangers and publishers have used Russlan and Ludmila.

Program Notes

Ruslan and Lyudmila is an opera in five acts (eight tableaux) composed by Mikhail Glinka between 1837 and 1842. The opera is based on the 1820 poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin, the father of Russian literature. Pushkin's death in the famous duel prevented him from writing the libretto himself as planned.

Today, the best-known music from the opera is its overture, which Glinka is said to have composed in 24 hours. He became the first composer in the classical tradition to incorporate the whole-tone scale.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Unlike Glinka's very successful A Life for the Tsar, the opera Russian and Ludmilla (1837—42) was not a resounding success. The libretto, based on his friend Alexander Pushkin’s fairy tale, had been poorly adapted by various authors until its “wretched completion," as Glinka himself described it. Furthermore, the opera's premiere had been marred by a poor cast. Even with this inauspicious start, the quality of the musical score was undeniable. This became immediately evident to several prominent composers and conductors, including Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz, who conducted later performances. The overture from the opera has especially endured as one of his most popular and has become a staple of the classical concert repertoire.

- Program Note from U.S. Marine Band concert program, 14 December 2016

Media

Audio CD: Winter Park High School Wind Ensemble (John P. LaCognata) - 2006

State Ratings

Alabama: Class AA
Florida: VI
Georgia: VI
Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
Kansas: V
Louisiana: V
South Carolina: VI
Tennessee: VI
Texas: V. Complete
Virginia: VI

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Ensemble (David Plack, conductor) - 5 October 2022
West Texas A&M University (Canyon) Symphonic Band (Donald Lefevre, conductor) - 13 February 2020 (2020 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
University of North Dakota (Bismarck) Wind Ensemble (James Popejoy, conductor) – 8 October 2019
University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Wind Ensemble (Kenneth Ozzello, conductor) – 13 November 2018
Michigan State University (East Lansing) Concert Band (David Thornton, conductor) – 1 February 2018
Tallahassee (Fla.) Winds (Patrick Dunnigan, conductor) – 2 May 2017
Flower Mound (Texas) High School Wind Symphony (Brent Biskup, conductor) - 18 December 2015 (2015 Midwest Clinic)
Murrieta Valley High School (Murrieta, Calif.) Wind Ensemble I (Neil Anderson, conductor) - 19 February 2015 (2015 CMEC Conference, Fresno)
Florida State University Symphonic Band - 2010
Winter Park (Fla.) High School Wind Ensemble (John P. LaCognata, conductor) – 21 December 2006 (2006 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Jota Aragonesa
Kamarinskaia Fantasy
Life for the Czar Overture
Marsch des 27 Dragoner Regiment in Kiev
Overture to "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1842)
Overture to "Russlan and Ludmilla" (arr. Johnston) (1842)
Russlan and Ludmilla (tr. Hindsley) (1842/1973)
Russlan and Ludmilla (tr. Henning) (1842/1937)
Russlan and Ludmilla (tr. Morgan) (1842/2016)
Russlan and Ludmilla (tr. Rhea) (1842/2016)
"Ruslan and Ludmilla" Overture (arr. Howell) (1842/2020)
Slavsya (arr. Tchernetsky) (1836/1945)
Valse Fantasie

Resources

Glinka, M.; Hindsley, M. [197-?] Russlan and Ludmilla: Overture [score]. [Concert Band Transcriptions]: [Urbana, Ill.]
Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Mikhail Glinka." Accessed 6 October 2022.
Mikhail Glinka." Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. Accessed 13 February 2022.
Rudolf, Max. (1950) The Grammar of Conducting. New York: Schirmer Books. pp. 337–339.
Russlan and Ludmilla, Wikipedia
"Ruslan and Lyudmila (Glinka, Mikhail)." IMSLP. Web. Accessed 13 February 2022