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''The Little Golden Cockerel'' ((ロシア語:Золотой петушок), ''Zolotoy petushok'') is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Its libretto, by Vladimir Belsky, derives from Alexander Pushkin's 1834 poem ''The Fairy Tale of the Little Golden Cockerel'', which in turn is based on two chapters of ''Tales of the Alhambra'' by Washington Irving. The opera was completed in 1907 and premiered in 1909 in Moscow, after the composer's death. Outside Russia it has often been performed in French as ''Le coq d'or''. ==Composition history== Rimsky-Korsakov had considered his previous opera, ''The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya'' (1907) to be his final artistic statement in the medium, and, indeed, this work has been called a "summation of the nationalistic operatic tradition of Glinka and The Five." However the political situation in Russia at the time inspired him to take up the pen to compose a "razor-sharp satire of the autocracy, of Russian imperialism, and of the Russo-Japanese war." Four factors influenced Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to write this opera-ballet: #Pushkin – Rimsky-Korsakov’s other works inspired by Alexander Pushkin's poems, especially ''Tsar Saltan'', had been very successful. The Golden Cockerel had the same magic. #Bilibin – Ivan Bilibin had already produced artwork for the Little Golden Cockerel, and this conjured up the same traditional Russian folk flavours as those in ''Tsar Saltan.'' #Russo-Japanese War – Under Tsar Nikolay II Russia became involved in a war with Japan. This war was highly unpopular amongst the Russian people. It proved to be a military disaster, and Russia was eventually defeated. (In the Little Golden Cockerel, Tsar Dodon foolishly decides to make a pre-emptive strike against the neighbouring State, and there is huge chaos and bloodshed on the battlefield. The tsar himself gives more attention to his personal pleasures, and comes to a sticky end.) #Russian Revolutionary Activity in 1905 – Many Russian people were not only upset by the Russo-Japanese War, but also by poor living conditions. On January 9, 1905, several thousand people, led by a priest, demonstrated peacefully in the Palace Square in Sankt-Peterburg. They tried to hand in a petition asking for better working conditions, an eight hour day, a minimum wage, and the prohibition of child labour. However, more than 1,000 persons were shot by the Tsarist troops, and the date has become known as Bloody Sunday (1905). News of this massacre spread rapidly – there was an uprising in Odessa, where the sailors in the battleship Potemkin took over the ship and fired on the headquarters of the tsarist troops. Again, there was a massacre of people on the Odessa steps. The Students in the Sankt-Peterburg Conservatoire also demonstrated against the Tsar, and Rimsky-Korsakov supported their protest. For this he was dismissed from his post as head of the Conservatoire. Alexander Glazunov and Anatoly Lyadov resigned and left with him. See also Russian Revolution of 1905. Rimsky-Korsakov started work on his Little Golden Cockerel opera. It was finished in 1907. The opera was immediately banned by the Palace, and was not allowed to be staged. Rimsky-Korsakov’s health was probably affected by this, and he was dead by the time it was performed two years later. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Golden Cockerel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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