1001 Nights or Arabian Nights is the medieval ode to storytelling from the Middle East. Probably as old as the 8th century CE, this collection of fairy tales started in India and Persia, with tales added over the century. All of these tales were added to the frame of the woman Sheherazade that filled a 1001 nights with them to save her head.
The story is well known, but for those who do not: the fictional Sassanid king Shahryar is cheated on by his wife. He loses all faith in women and decides to marry a virgin each day, sleep with her, only to kill her in the morning. When no more virgins can be found, the vizier chooses his own daughter, reluctantly. She however tells the king a story, but leaves out the ending. Naturally, the king wants to know the end, so he keeps her alive. The next night she tells the ending, but immediately start a new tale. And so on, until she wins the heart of the king after the number of nights in the title.
Rimsky-Korsakov wrote this series of symphonic suites inspired by it. He struggled a bit with how close the reference should be, but in the end settled on these four pieces of orientalist music. He finished it in 1888, a time when Moscow was fascinated with this exotic style. It was quickly followed by many ballet versions and used in films. It is also a popular choice for figure skating.