Khachaturian, A :: Sabre Dance

Musicians Publications presents Aram Khachaturian s Sabre Dance from his ballet, Gayne arranged for woodwind quartet by Bill Holcombe Jr. Scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, this flexible quartet also includes an optional bass clarinet part to replace the bassoon when necessary. This arrangement is advanced in difficulty.

Aram Khachaturian was born in the Soviet Republic of Georgia in 1903. Among his most popular works are his piano concerto (1936), violin concerto (1940), and folk ballet Gayne (Happiness -- 1942) from which the Sabre Dance is excerpted. Gayne is about life on a collective farm in Armenia and has strong elements of Armenian and Russian folklore. The plot centers around Gayne, a loyal Armenian worker. Her tyrannical husband Giko betrays the Soviet government, turns arsonist and smuggler, and is finally captured by the heroic commander of the local militia. The Sabre Dance itself is based upon a Kurdish folk dance.

Much of Khachaturian's music reflects his Armenian ancestry. The traditions of romantic Russian music, and the Soviet concerns that music appeals to large, diverse groups of people and feature folk styles. The influence of Rimsky-Korsakov is evident from the large orchestra required for the Sabre Dance and the colorful orchestration featuring the winds and percussion. The steady pulse and the melodies which move chromatically around a repeated note suggests the influence of Armenian folk music. The form of the Sabre Dance is ABA. The steady pulse, the excitement of displaced accents, the colorful effects of the orchestration, and the incessant repetition of short melodic motives and simple progressions make the music interesting and enjoyable.

-John H. Planer