PLOT

• The Golden Cockerel is a dramatized fable structered in a prologue, three acts, and an epilogue.  It is set in an unspecified time in the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom, a far-off place in Russian fairy-tales.
• Prologue: The Astrologer, the opera's framing character and implied narrator, appears before the curtain to warn the audience that he is about to tell a cautionary tale.  This would later influence the structure and narrative ideas in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex.
• Act I: The Kingdom of Dodon is threatened by an enemny and no one knows how to defend it.  The Astrologer appears with a Golden Cockerel, who will crow whenever there is danger.  In appreciation, the King offers to give the Astrologer whatever he wishes.  The Astrologer says he will claim his reward later, but would like the promise in writing, to make it 'lawful.'  The King indignantly refuses (an obvious statement on the Tsarist regime in Russia): "Lawful?  What's that?  I never heard of such a thing.  My whims and orders - that's the law around here."  Soon the Cockerel crows and Dodon marches off with his two sons and their armies.
• Act II: Dodon and his soldiers rest in a mountain pass.  The two princes and many soldiers have been killed.  The beautiful Queen of Shemakha  appears and performs her famous aria, the 'Hymn to the Sun.'  She claims responsibilty for the deaths of the princes.  The Queen of Shemakha then performs an enchanting dance with veils for the King (which is later seen in Richard Strauss' Salome) and agrees to marry him.  One is left to question if the Queen of Shemakha represents youth or beauty or evil.
• Act III: The townspeople gather in front of the King's palace, awaiting his return.  The King arrives with the Queen of Shemakha and the Wedding Procession commences.  At this moment, the Astrologer demands to have his wish fulfilled: he wants the Queen!  King Dodon refuses and kills the Astrologer.  The Golden Cockerel then attacks the King and pecks him to death, and then vanishes with the Queen of Shemakha.
• Epilogue: The Astrologer reappears before the curtain, reassuring the audience that what they have seen is only a fairy tale and therefore they should not be upset.  He leaves with the fact that only he and the Queen of Shemakha were real people - all the rest were a dream.

MUSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

SOUND:

• Rimsky-Korsakov combines Russian nationalism and the music of the Russian people with traditional classical formal and melodic structures.  He evokes the young and vigorous folk spirit of the people by incorporating elements of the songs, dances, and religious music of the people,ultimately creating novelty and freshness.
• Elements of traditional Russian folk melodies appear when the Queen of Shemakha forces King Dodon to sing her a love song in Act II and also in the triumphant wedding procession and chorus.
• Orientalism is common.  One can hear the typical Eastern melismas throughout the piece, especially in the Queen of Shemakha's entrance aria, the 'Hymn to the Sun.'  This virtuosic aria employs quick chromatic ascending and decending runs (sometimes in retrogrades and inversions) and staccati.
• Orchestral tone painting is a prominent feature throughout his works.  The brash opening timbre of The Golden Cockerel displays the colors of lubki (pl. form of lubok).  The lubki are a part of Russian folk arts and are derived from oral and written folklore, and are characterized by simple and loud prints.  The sets and costumes correspond with the music to create a total musical and visual image of the folk tradition.
• He perceived colors associated with major keys: C - white; D - yellow; E flat - dark bluish-grey; E - sparkling sapphire; F - green; G - right gold; A - rosy colored.
• Russian melodies appear when Rimsky-Korsakov combines chromaticism and diatonicism in the sleeping scene of Act I.  The lullaby occurs twice in the act: the first time, Tsar Dodon is sleeping in his palace under the comforting blessing of the Cockerel.  This blessing is orchestrally interpreted by the transformation of the Cockerel's sharp cry into a simple tune.  The music changes to the chromatic theme of the Queen of Shemakha as King Dodon begins to dream of a beautiful woman.  Her exoticism is reflected in the chromaticism and fully diminished seventh chords played by the orchestra.  The King wakes at the false alarm of an enemy attack, and his next dream combines the music of the Queen with the simplicity of the Cockerel's blessing.
• Vocal choices: the role of the Astronomer is sung by a 'tenore altino,' who must reach a high E, and the lead female role, the Queen of Shemakha, is sung by a coloratura soprano.  The vocal parts reflect the bright and penetrating colors of the lubki.

STYLE:

• Rimsky-Korsakov adopts Western techniques and employs the use of leitmotifs, which are first heard in the Cockerel's opening theme.  Some sonorities, like the Astologer's glockenspiel, function as 'leit-timbres.'
• The composer references his own work, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, which also uses an opening garish trumpet phrase at the beginning of the opera. 
• The orchestral 'tone painting' and orientalism feature prominently in his works, most notably in his famous Scheherazade, Sadko, Antar, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Easter Overture, and Capriccio español.

FORM:

• The adaptation of an existing famous text by Pushkin into a libretto parallels many operatic pieves that are based off of national literature and oral tradition. 
• Recurring harmonic devices, such as the juztaposition of the triads of D flat major and E major, are used throughout.