One of the great Russian composers of the nineteenth century, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov is known for the excellence of his orchestration. As a music teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov was of the greatest importance to the development and maintenance of the traditions of the Russian national school. A prolific composer, some of his best-known works include Scheherazade (1888), The Golden Cockerel (1909), Snow Maiden (1882), and Russian Easter Festival overture (1888). Rimsky-Korsakov made use of both the purely Russian idioms and coloristic oriental melodic patterns. Scheherazade is representative of Russian orientalism at its best.