The Flight of the Bumblebee - Definition and Overview

Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov is considered a sign of mastery of the violin.

"Flight of the Bumblebee" is recognizable for its frantic pace when played up to tempo, with nearly uninterrupted runs of notes. It is not so much the pitch or range of the notes that are played that challenges the musician, but simply the musician's ability to move to them quickly enough.

The piece was used as the theme song for the radio show The Green Hornet. Perhaps the most well known version of the piece is the virtuoso trumpet recording by Al Hirt. This version was used as the theme song of the 1960s television series version of The Green Hornet, starring Bruce Lee, and the Al Hirt version was used by Quentin Tarantino as an homage to the genre in his 2003 movie Kill Bill: Volume 1, where it can be heard in the scene detailing the Bride's arrival in Tokyo. In most of this scene, the Bride wears a yellow track suit like the one that Bruce Lee was wearing in his swan song movie, Game of Death.

"Flight of the Bumblebee" was also played on an electric guitar with accompanying orchestra, on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's third album, Beethoven's Last Night

In addition to these instruments, "Flight of the Bumblebee" has been played on tuba.