Inspired by Folk Music: Balakirev’s Islamey

The Russian composers of the late 19th century seemed to vie with each other for difficult piano music. Mily Balakirev (1837–1910) was active as both a nationalist composer and encourager of other composers, most importantly Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Balakirev was important in the formation of the ‘Mighty Five’, which included himself, Alexander Borodin, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Mily Balakirev

The Mighty Handful, as they were also known, followed Balakirev’s ideas about creating a national music that looked inward to Russia and not outward to Europe. Centred in St Petersburg, the group worked from 1856 to around 1870.

Balakirev’s contribution to the group included his ‘oriental fantasy’ Islamey, originally written as a virtuosic work for piano. It challenged its performers through its technical demands and, in the end, only high-level performers such as Rubinstein and Liszt included it in their repertoire. At the time of its writing in 1869, it was considered one of the most difficult of all piano pieces and critic Harold C. Schonberg called it a ‘knucklebuster’. To get around the problems they couldn’t play, many alternative passages were written. Even Balakirev said there were passages he himself had problems performing!

From the very beginning, pianists were fascinated with the work, both because of its technical demands and the lyrical charms of its love theme. Balakirev had been collecting folk music from the countryside (much like Bartók and Kodály would later do) since the 1860s, seeking traditional music that could be incorporated into classical compositions. Along with melodies, Balakirev also collected rhythms, such as triple rhythms with 12 semiquavers (sixteenth notes) per measure. These exotic elements were enticing to pianists who were looking for a new sound world. In its exploration of non-western harmonies, folk tunes, and rhythms, largely coming from the unexplored areas of Central Asia and Caucasus. Balakirev’s ‘orientalism’ found a ready audience.

Balakirev wrote the work after a trip to the Caucasus in 1860 where a Circassian prince played him the tune he called Islamey. A second melody came to him in Moscow via the Armenian actor and baritone Konstantin de Lazari from the Crimea, bringing him a melody that was known to the Crimean Tatars. He met Konstantin de Lazari at Tchaikovsky’s house.

The work is in 3 parts, with the Islamey melody in part 1, the Crimean melody in part 2, and both ideas combined in part 3, which also returns to the Islamey melody. The very active opening contrasts with the more lyrical second section and the final ending brings together the two contrasting sections.

Originally written in 1869, Balakirev revised the work in 1902 to make the transition between parts 1 and 2 smoother. He also made some changes to the final section.

Given the difficulties of performance, it was inevitable that this work would become orchestrated. It was arranged around 1910 by Alfred Casella and later by Russian composer Sergei Lyapunov. Bringing Islamey to the concert stage broadened its appeal and it remains one of Balakirev’s best-known works.

Mily Balakirev: Islamey, fantaisie orientale (Orchestration: Alfredo Casella)

Alexandre V. Gaouk

This performance by the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra (now the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio) in 1957 uses the Casella orchestration. The conductor and composer Alexandre Vassilievitch Gaouk (1893–1963) led many of the finest Soviet Orchestras, including the Leningrad Philharmonic (1930–1934) and the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra (1953–1961). He taught at the music conservatories in Leningrad (192–1933), Tbilisi (1941–1943, and Moscow (1939–1963). In 1954, he was named People’s Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Performed by

Alexander Gauk
Grand Orchestre Symphonique de la Radio de l’URSS

Recorded in 1957

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