Flight of the Bumblebee is a famous composition from Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov.
He composed the orchestral interlude especially for the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, also one of his works.
The writing took place throughout the period of one year, between 1989 and 1900.
The moments where he included the free Flight of the Bumblebee piano sheets are at the end of Act III, Tableau 1, while The Magic Swan Bird turns Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into an insect, as the help he needed to fly and see his father.
It was possible for this part to be extracted as a concerto piece because the vocal line of the Swan Bird can be omitted, although it is featured in the first part of the Flight.
The lyrics she sings are a piece of advice for Prince Gvidon Saltanovich.
The composer did not name the piece, but the English title is very similar to the one in Russian.
Two leitmotifs that were used in the Flight, which have been associated with the Prince previously in the opera, can be found here as well.
A recognizable aspect of the orchestral interlude is the frantic pace played up to tempo with continuous runs of chromatic sixteenth notes.
Due to this and the fact that it requires high piano skills for moving the notes quickly, it can be very difficult to perform.
A transcription from Serghei Rachmaninov appears in the movie Shine, played by David Helfgott.
The free Flight of the Bumblebee piano sheet music was also used in the 1947 film Song of Scheherazade.
It served as an inspiration for Walt Disney to introduce a jazz arrangement made by Freddy Martin and named Bumble Boogie, in his movie Melody Time.
A certain part of the song was also used in Michael Jackson's Breaking News and on a recording from Bob Dylan, It's The Flight Of The Bumblebee as part of the DVD The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.
Flight of the Bumblebee was covered by the band Anvil for the album Strength of Steel, in 1987, and also by the band Manowar, in 1988, for the album Kings Of Metal.
If you want to learn how to play this complex, yet wonderful piece at the piano, simply use the information below.
