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Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)

Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) · sheet music

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 3
  • Passages 3

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Alexander Borodin, Russian romantic (1833–1887). The reading release has 3 passages from this piece at level 3; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 9–12 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 3.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor).

  1. Right hand alone · bars 9–16 level 3

How to play Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)

  1. Tempo:Match the tempo to the dance you are playing: a gentle Andantino for the opening and the maidens' melody, and a much quicker pace for the men's and boys' dances. Do not take the slow sections too fast.
  2. Right hand:The signature melody curves up and down with small chromatic steps. Practice it slowly, hearing the line as a vocal phrase, and watch for the accidentals that give it its color.
  3. Left hand:Keep the accompaniment light and steady so the melody floats above it. A simple repeated pattern in the left hand should feel like a drone underneath.
  4. Hands together:Practice with the left hand softer than the right, then check by playing only the right hand and singing along. If you can sing it, you are listening to the shape.
  5. Rhythm:The rhythms change from dance to dance. Say the beats aloud when you reach a new meter, and tap the pulse with one hand before you play the notes.
  6. Dynamics:The music grows from soft to bold. Plan a small increase in volume with each return of the main tune so the final section feels like a build.
  7. Practice:Learn each dance as its own small piece, then link them in order. This matches how the number is built and makes the changes of mood easier to manage.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the slow maidens' melody too fast. Fix: Sing the tune at a gentle pace while you tap the beat, then match that tempo on the piano.
  • Skipping the chromatic accidentals and flattening the melody into a plain scale. Fix: Circle the accidentals in your score and play the phrase slowly until the colored notes sound natural.
  • Starting the fast dances too quickly and losing control. Fix: Begin each fast section at about two thirds of your target tempo and speed up only when the rhythm stays clear.
  • Making the accompaniment as loud as the tune. Fix: Practice the right hand alone, then add the left at a whisper.

Structure: suite of contrasting dances

The number runs through several dances in one sweep, moving between slow, sinuous music and fast, driving rhythms. The women's gliding melody and the boys' and men's fast dances each come back later in the number, and the whole thing ends with a fast closing General Dance.

Intro · Introduction (A major)
A calm, atmospheric opening in Andantino that sets the scene before the first dance.
A · Gliding Dance of the Maidens (F-sharp minor)
The famous curving melody, with small chromatic twists that make it sound Eastern. It is the tune that became Stranger in Paradise.
B · Wild Dance of the Men (F major)
Faster, Allegro vivo, with a more insistent rhythm and energetic leaps.
C · General Dance (D major)
A broader Allegro in three beats that gathers the whole company.
D · Dance of the Boys (D minor)
A Presto in six-eight, light and fast, then returning later in the number.
Coda · Closing General Dance (A major)
After reprises of the maidens' melody and the boys' dance, a final Allegro con spirito drives the number to its end.

About Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)

Alexander Borodin worked on his opera Prince Igor from 1869 until he died suddenly in 1887, leaving it unfinished. Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov edited and completed it, and it was first staged at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on 4 November 1890.

The story comes from the medieval Russian epic The Lay of Igor's Host, about Prince Igor's campaign against the Cumans, also called Polovtsians, a nomadic people who raided Russian lands. In the opera the Cumans capture Igor and entertain him with a series of dances. These dances became the most famous music in the opera, and orchestras play them in concerts without the rest of the work.

Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes staged the dances in Paris on 18 May 1909 at the Théâtre du Châtelet, with choreography by Michel Fokine and designs by Nicholas Roerich. The dances were later reworked for the 1953 Broadway musical Kismet, which turned the gliding melody into the song Stranger in Paradise.

  • Borodin died in 1887 with Prince Igor unfinished, and Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov prepared the performing version that premiered in 1890.
  • The Ballets Russes premiered the Polovtsian Scenes and Dances in Paris on 18 May 1909, with choreography by Michel Fokine.
  • Stranger in Paradise, from the 1953 musical Kismet, is adapted from the Gliding Dance of the Maidens.
  • Music from the dances was heard at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics and performed complete at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Why the first passage is level 3

That passage is level 3 rather than 2 because a hand covers more than one position, it leaps a fourth, the line roams across the staff, it leaves the five-finger position.

The piano passages here are arrangements of the orchestral dances, so the melody often sits alone in one hand. Watch for chromatic accidentals and stretches of fixed hand positions.

Questions about Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)

How hard is Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) to play?
Its passages grade from level 3 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, which keeps all of it within beginner reading. The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 3.
Is there an easy part of Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 9–12 for the right hand alone, the level-3 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 3 because a hand covers more than one position and it leaps a fourth.
What key and time signature is Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor)?
Alexander Borodin, Russian romantic (1833–1887). Alexander Borodin worked on his opera Prince Igor from 1869 until he died suddenly in 1887, leaving it unfinished.
Can I practice Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 3 graded passages from Polovtsian Dances (Prince Igor) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What is the Polovtsian Dances melody that became Stranger in Paradise?
It comes from the Gliding Dance of the Maidens in Borodin's Prince Igor. The 1953 musical Kismet adapted it as the song Stranger in Paradise.
Who were the Polovtsians?
The Polovtsians, or Cumans, were nomadic invaders of medieval Russia. In the opera they capture Prince Igor and entertain him with dances.
Did Borodin finish Prince Igor?
No. He died in 1887 with the opera unfinished, and Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov completed it for its 1890 premiere.
Is Borodin's Polovtsian Dances in the public domain?
Borodin died in 1887, so his music is in the public domain. Modern arrangements and editions can carry their own copyright.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 3 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 3
bars 9–16 right hand · bars 9–12 right hand · bars 13–16 right hand

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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