Borodin started composing his first excursion into the symphonic form in 1862, while studying with Mily Balakirev. He worked on it sporadically for the next five years, making revisions in the wake of an informal orchestral reading in 1867. The official premiere, at a concert of the Russian Musical Society on 23 December 1868 conducted by his tutor Balakirev, successfully established Borodin as a major force in Russian orchestral music. The score presented here is a digitally-enhanced reprint of the one issued ca.1946 by the Soviet State Publisher Muzgiz, itself a re-engraving of the score...

Rimsky-Korsakov's second excursion into the symphonic form came early in his career (1869) but underwent two major revisions, in 1875 and 1897. The second version of 1875 was modified in 1903 due to his publisher Bessel's refusal to engrave the new plates required for the final version of 1897. This 1875/1903 revision became the most popular version for many decades, as the final version of 1897 did not appear in print until nearly a decade after the composer's death. This colorful, exotic symphony - later termed a "symphonic suite" by its composer, is easily the best known of the three...