Russian Easter Festival

'Russian Easter Festival Overture' (La grande Paque russe), is a concert overture written by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888. It is the last of what many call his three most exceptionally brilliant orchestral works, preceded by 'Capriccio Espagnol' and 'Scheherazade'. It is based on themes from the 'obikhod', which is a printed collection of the most important and most frequently used canticles of the Russian Orthodox Church. The overture begins with a long introduction of a very slow tempo in which the voice of an archangel is represented by a dark trumpet solo. The slow introduction is followed by joyous allegro conveying a sense of excitement. Dutch arranger Christiaan Janssen transcribed the overture for a large symphonic wind orchestra.