The Second symphony, called the Bogatyr represents, along with the opera Prince Igor, a peak in the creative work of ALEXANDER BORODIN and in in the endeavour of recreation of Russian folk epic imagery. Conceived in the beginning of 1869, it was completed in 1876, due to Borodin’s professional engagements as a chemistry professor, scientist-chemist, and editor of a scientific journal.

The underlying idea of the musical content of the symphony follows the prevalent interest among Russian public in the national and folk epics. In 1867, Rimsky-Korsakov completed his symphonic tableau Sadko, with its first version entitled An Episode from the Bylina of Sadko. (‘Bylina’ is old East-Slavonic epic genre, concerned with historic events and the acts of bogatyrs – legendary heroic warrior-figures.) Mussorgsky and Balakirev were actively engaged in collecting folklore in the early 1860s, part of which was used by Mussorgsky in Boris Godunov.

A central place in the epic tradition is occupied by Pushkin’s narrative poems and Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Ludmila. In adhering to The Lay of Igor’s Host, a twelfth-century ancient-Russian anonymous epic chronicle, and proceeding  with his opera Prince Igor and his Second Symphony, Borodin continued and renewed the general principles of the “Mighty Handful”, whose member he was, and partook in the musical and patriotic attitudes, fondness for folklore, interest in historical plots and their realistic recreation.

In 1870, Borodin showed the first movement to his friends Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky. They welcomed it with enthusiasm, especially strong on the part of Stasov, who called it “the lioness”. Mussorgsky suggested the name Slavo-heroic, and Stasov – Bogatyrskaya (russ. for ‘bogatyrean’, ‘of the bogatyrs’, bogatyrs being epic heroic figures from East-Slavic Legends). Despite the fact that there is no claim to programme in the symphony, the content of its imagery is obvious.

Concerning its programmatic basis, Stasov wrote that Borodin himself told him more than once that in the first movement he wished to depict a gathering of Russian warrior-heroes, in the slow movement the figure of a bayan—a type of Russian accordion, and in the finale a scene of heroes feasting to the sound of gusli—an ancient plucked string instrument. It was precisely these clarifications, made by Borodin, that prompted the idea of the title to Stasov.

The symphony premiered in February 1877 at a concert of the Russian Music Society in St. Petersburg under the direction of Eduard Nápravník. Borodin became world famous following Paris performances conducted by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1899 of the symphonic tableau In the Steppes of Central Asia (1880) and the Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor (1875).

Besides these notable works, Borodin’s three symphonies and his string quartets are frequently performed on concert podiums nowadays.