London Records Stereo
Aram Khachaturian's ballet Gayane, pronounced "Guy-nuh" and variously spelled "Gayne," "Gayaneh," and "Gayan," had its premiere at the Kirov Ballet on December 9, 1942, in wartime. The ballet's story concerned a young woman named Gayane who lives on a collective farm of which her father is the chairman. Gayane helps entrap a spy bent on stealing Soviet geological secrets. That clunker of a Communist plot may explain why recordings of the entire ballet have been hard to find in recent decades, even though Gayane spawned one of the last of the great orchestral warhorses, the Sabre Dance. Originally part of a suite of ethnic dances in the ballet's second act, the Sabre Dance is an irresistible piece of fun that's known and loved far beyond the confines of classical music fandom. Its appeal partly derives from its combination of a highly dissonant element, an alternation between major and minor sevenths, with full-blown, roller-coaster-downhill forward motion.
One indication of the ballet's musical riches and of its popularity in its own day is that the composer extracted three orchestral suites from the music during and after the ballet's composition -- and the first two suites did not include the Sabre Dance at all. (Subsequent conductors have sometimes added it back in, and Khachaturian's scores themselves existed in multiple versions.) The remainder of the Suite No. 3, much of which gives an orchestra's percussion section a delightful workout, consists of five additional pieces reflecting the ballet's rural and ethnic setting: "Gathering of the Cotton," "Dance of the Young Kurds," "Introduction and Dance of the Old Men," "Embroidery of the Carpets," and "Hopak." The Sabre Dance is the fifth of the six pieces, which last about 28 blood-and-guts minutes in total.
~ All Music Guide
Available Options:
Condition:
Option:
