This early orchestral work shows the interest of the composer for the Russian folk fantastic stories, in this case one of those in which the myths of the East and the West combine. The piece is based on the legend of a character from Novgorod, a minstrel that became a rich merchant. He is sailing in his own ship when the Sea King stops the boat and requests a human sacrifice. Sadko is thrown overboard. A wedding is taking place in the undersea court, and the Sea King demands that Sadko plays his psaltery. But the music makes all sea creatures dance, thus producing a violent storm. The intervention of Saint Nicholas rescues Sadko and takes him back to his city. Many years later, Rimsky-Korsakov wrote an opera on the same subject whose most well known aria is the famous Hindu song, but is musically unrelated to the earlier piece. The work begins describing the sea in calm by means of repeated triplets over a quiet harmonic background. A sudden timpani roll announces trouble at sea. The strings describe graphically the descent of Sadko to the bottom of the sea. A somewhat oriental and lyrical tune describes the court of the Sea King. Harp arpeggios preceding a rhythmic section start the undersea dance, featuring an engaging melody. The intensity rises to describe the storm at sea, which builds up to a climax before it is suddenly halted. The piece ends with the sea in calm again. The piece was written in 1867 but composer revised the work twice, first in 1869 and more drastically in 1892.

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