Dance of the Tumblers from “The Snow Maiden”

The third of Rimsky-Korsakov’s fifteen operas The Snow Maiden - first performed in St Petersburg in 1881 - is set in the legendary land of the Berendeyans, which is condemned to remain in the grip of Winter until the Snow Maiden’s heart melts and she falls in love with a mortal. This she eventually does, bringing Spring to the Berendeyans and death by deliquescence to herself. Long before that, however, the Tsars minstrels keep themselves warm and amuse the crowd at a Berendeyan festival with a vigorous dance. Variably identified as a Tumblers’, Acrobats’ or Buffoons’ dance, it is based on a genuine Russian folk tune and dressed up in characteristically brilliant orchestral colours with virtually non-stop activity in the strings and dramatic interventions from the brass. It’s still a bit cold though.