Borodin Symphony No. 2 in B minor, 'Bogatyr'

Borodin's real profession was chemist. He was a professor of chemistry at the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy, and in 1872 he also took the lead in founding medical courses for women. Because composing was something he did in the gaps between research and teaching, this symphony, begun in 1869, was completed little by little over several years, until around 1876.

In that same year, 1869, Borodin also began writing the opera 'Prince Igor.' But when the libretto wasn't coming together, he set the opera aside for a while in early 1870, telling his friend Stasov, who had suggested it, that 'the music I meant for the opera I will use in the symphony.' That's why this symphony and 'Prince Igor' have a similar mood, like siblings. The nickname 'Bogatyr' (hero) was also given by Stasov. The picture Borodin described to Stasov was this: the first movement is a gathering of Russian heroes, the third is the legendary bard Boyan, and the finale is a feast of the heroes with cheering crowds. However, Borodin himself did not put titles in the score.

It was premiered in St. Petersburg in 1877 under Nápravník, but the response was modest. Borodin revised the piece, and it found its footing with the revised version conducted by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1879.

In 1877 he also met Liszt in Weimar, Germany, and they played the two symphonies together as piano four-hands. When Borodin worried about revising the piece, Liszt is said to have told him, 'Please don't touch it, don't change anything.' Thanks to Liszt arranging performances abroad, Borodin's symphonies became the first Russian symphonies introduced in Western Europe.