Aleksandr Porfirevich Borodin

Aleksandr Porfirevich Borodin , 1833-87, Russian composer, chemist, and physician. He studied at the academy of medicine in St. Petersburg, where he later taught chemistry. He also helped found a school of medicine for women. An amateur musician, he had little musical training, consisting mainly of study with Balakirev. His principal works are two symphonies; several fine songs; an orchestral tone poem, In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880); and an opera, Prince Igor, left unfinished, which Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov completed. It was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1890. He was one of a group of Russian nationalist composers known as The Five .

Bibliography: See biography by G. Abraham; V. I. Seroff, The Mighty Five (1948); M. O. Zetlin, The Five (tr. 1959).

Borodin, Alexander Porfirevich (1833–87) Russian composer and chemist, one of the Russian Five group of composers. His most popular works include the tone poem In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880) and the ‘Polovtsian Dances’ from his opera Prince Igor (completed after his death by Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov). He incorporated Russian folk song into his compositions.