The Five, the Mighty Handful, so named by the Russian critic and librarian Vladimir Stasov, were the principal nationalist composers in later 19th century Russia, following the example of Glinka, their forerunner. Borodin, like some of his musical colleagues, followed another profession than music, winning distinction as a professor of chemistry. His output was limited by the amount of attention he was able to give to composition and at his death he left a number of works unfinished, to be completed by his friend Rimsky-Korsakov and others.
Operas
Borodin's most famous opera, Prince Igor, was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov. It includes the famous choral dances, the Polovtsian Dances, with which the captive Prince is entertained by Khan Konchak.
Orchestral Music
The best known example of Borodin's orchestral music is the musical picture In the Steppes of Central Asia, a vivid evocation of an exotic region. The second of his three symphonies, the last unfinished, occupied him intermittently for seven years, and is an attractive and very Russian work, the three forming an important addition to nationalist symphonic repertoire.
