Flight of the Bumblebee

"Flight of the Bumblebee" is a famous orchestral interlude written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, composed in 1899-1900. The piece closes Act III, Tableau 1, right after the magic Swan-Bird gives Prince Gvidon Saltanovich (the Tsar's son) instructions on how to change into an insect so that he can fly away to visit his father (who does not know that he is alive). Although in the opera the Swan-Bird sings during the first part of the "Flight," her vocal line is melodically uninvolved and easily omitted; this feature, combined with the fact that the number decisively closes the scene, made easy extraction as an orchestral concert piece possible.

Overview

Here is the text of the scene where the Swan-Bird sings during this music:

Although the "Flight" does not have a title in the score of the opera, its common English title translates like the Russian one (Полёт шмеля = Poljot šmelja). (Incidentally, this piece does not constitute one of the movements of the orchestral suite that the composer derived from the opera for concerts.) Those familiar with the opera Tsar Saltan may recognize two leitmotifs used in the Flight, both of which are associated with Prince Gvidon from earlier in the opera. These are illustrated here in musical notation: The music of this number recurs in modified form during the ensuing tableau (Act III, Tableau 2), at the points when the Bumblebee appears during the scene: it stings the two evil sisters on the brow, blinds Babarikha (the instigator of the plot to trick Saltan at the beginning into sending his wife away), and in general causes havoc at the end of the tableau. (Readers of Aleksandr Pushkin's original poem upon which this opera is based will note that Gvidon is supposed to go on three separate trips to Saltan's kingdom, each of which requires a transformation into a different insect.) "Flight of the Bumblebee" is recognizable for its frantic pace when played up to tempo, with nearly uninterrupted runs of conjunct chromatic sixteenth notes. It is not so much the pitch or range of the notes that are played that challenges the musician, but simply the musician's ability to move to them quickly enough. Although the original orchestral version mercifully assigns portions of the sixteenth-note runs to various instruments in tandem, in the century since its composition the piece has become a standard showcase for solo instrumental virtuosity, whether on the original violin or on practically any other melodic instrument.

Adaptations and arrangements

Among early adaptations, Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral interlude was transcribed for piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff, with a few enhancements to the harmony. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin would often play the piece solo for Allied troops during World War II. The fleeting melody of this composition makes it especially attractive to those who want to showcase their instrumental technique, a trend which has led to many unorthodox arrangements. "Flight of the Bumblebee" was played on an electric guitar with accompanying orchestra, on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's third album, Beethoven's Last Night. Jennifer Batten also recorded a version, which is played without a pick, and is done entirely with tapping. Troy Stetina also includes a version transcribed for electric guitar in his instructional book Speed Mechanics For Lead Guitar, which is played by him at virtuoso speeds. Al Hirt played an arrangement, called "Green Bee," which was used in the soundtrack to Kill Bill and was the theme song of the 1960s television series Green Hornet. Other rock renditions include the introduction to the song He-Man Woman Hater by Extreme (played by Nuno Bettencourt), and an arranged version played on piccolo bass guitar by Joey DeMaio of heavy metal band Manowar, known as Sting Of The Bumblebee. Progressive metal band Dream Theater also put it in part 1 and 2 of "In The Presence of Enemies". In addition to these instruments, "Flight of the Bumblebee" has been played on flute (by Sir James Galway), on tuba (most famously by Canadian Brass tuba player Chuck Daellenbach), on trumpet by Maurice André, Wynton Marsalis, Rafael Méndez and many others, on Euphonium by Steven Mead, and even a near-impossible novelty version played on trombone, amid uproarious laughter from the artistes, on Spike Jones' first LP, Dinner Music For People Who Aren't Very Hungry. Christian Lindberg also played it on a trombone as a serious recording on his album, "The Virtuoso Trombone." Likewise novel is the a cappella vocal version by the New Swingle Singers. In the 2003 President's Star Charity of Singapore, "Flight of the Bumblebee" was performed on the erhu, a Chinese bowed string instrument. Miss America 1990 Debbye Turner performed a memorable version on the marimba during the talent competition of that year's pageant. The singer Barry Manilow has also performed the "Flight" on a kazoo with an accompanying orchestra. Leslie "Tiny" Martin, double bassist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and professor of double bass at Boston University and New England Conservatory of Music, played it on an orchestral double bass to amuse students and win auditions. In the 1970s, Ms. Martin also performed it routinely with The Wuz. A duet arrangement was performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and singer Bobby McFerrin on the album Hush. Bee, a remix of the piece by Banya, appears on the music video game Pump It Up, and "Driving Lazy Bee," another remix of the piece, this one by Glasslake, appears on the online rhythm game O2Jam. yet another remix appears in the xbox 360 arcade game Boom Boom Rocket titled "sting of the bumblebee". In addition, Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica's "The Flight of the Bumble-Bee" was even played in a techno-classical-crossover style/genre and that piece was played twice with an interlude within in one track from his first album "The Piano Player (2003)" which was also his first single co-produced by Jeff Wayne that helped catapulting him to fame (especially across Asian countries) for his impeccable piano performances. Perhaps the most unusual version of the piece is by French electronic musician, Jean-Jacques Perrey. In the '60s, Perrey recorded the sounds of live bees, and by tedious tape manipulation and hundreds of splices of tape, he assembled a frantic version that features the bees actually playing the melody line. Danish vibraphone player Max Siede Leth has made a virtuos version for two percussion players playing on 1 marimba! Running around playing at the same time on the front side and back side of the instrument and shifting positions all the time. This version has been performed with great success by the Danish percussion duo: Safri Duo

Flight of the Bumblebee in popular culture

• Gonzo eats a rubber tire to the tune. The performance is included on The Muppet Show Cast Album.
• Contemporary a capella band Spiralmouth covered the piece twice for the video game Crash Twinsanity, in each of the two "Doc Amok" sequences.
• The tune is also roughly sampled in the cartoon, Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog, (along with Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King)
• In the film Shine the main character, pianist David Helfgott is ridiculed by a restaurant go-er, after which he proceeds to play the piece at breakneck speed and silences the bully.
• In the Little Einsteins episode "The Northern Night Light," the crew sings the tune with the lyrics "flubba dubba...", asking the audience to shake their heads, hands, legs, and "tails" to the beat in order to overcome their fear of the dark. In the episode "Rocket Safari," the children use the piece to find animals in order to pull Rocket out of a waterfall.
• In the game Ultima VII the piece is played when the Avatar enters the giant bee cave.
• In an episode of The Simpsons, [1F06] "Boy-Scoutz N the Hood", a short excerpt of the piece is played after Homer trips on a peanut and the $20 he was holding flies out of his hand and out the window.
• It is included in Taiko no Tatsujin DS.
• In the Paragon SWP pub game "Moneycomb", the piece is performed by the bees buzzing on the category select screen.
• A jazz version of the piece, entitled The Green Hornet, was used as the theme for the 1966-1967 TV show, The Green Hornet.^[1]
• In an episode from the show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, this song is played during a pop quiz that Carlton and Will are taking, during the song, Carlton suffered from odd hallucinations
• 90's Rock band Extreme did a version they entitled "Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee" which appeared as an introduction to the song "He Man Woman Hater." It featured a rapid, minimal drum track just to keep time, coupled with lead guitarist Nuno Bettencourt's electric guitar impression of the classic.
• In a scene from the movie Drumline (film) during a football game the marching band from Atlanta A&T plays Flight of the Bumblebee.
• In a John Petrucci's solo on the live album Once in a Livetime ( disc 2 ).
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra use "Flight of the Bumblebee" in their song "A Last Illusion" ( on the album Beethoven's Last Night ).
• Nick Lachey's choir, Team Lachey, sang an a cappella version on "Clash of the Choirs" using the word 'Never' sung very quickly to achieve the buzzing sound

Media

Notes

External links

• A MIDI page including four versions of the Flight
• A short excerpt for clarinet, with permission of the authors
• A video of the Tommy Pederson version