A. Khachaturian "Saber Dance": history, content, video, interesting facts

Aram Khachaturian "Dance with Sabers"

Aram Khachaturian. The name of this outstanding composer is well known in all corners of the globe, because the extraordinarily beautiful music of his works from the first sounds conquers human hearts. The works of the maestro, in which he invested all the power of his talent, are distinguished by the brilliance of craftsmanship, the depth of the content, the genuine nationality and the magnificent perfection. Among the many beautiful compositions, the composer has one amazing piece. Aram Ilyich himself was not very friendly towards him, sometimes calling him a “rebellious and noisy child,” but, nevertheless, he became so famous that he became the composer’s business card all over the world. Of course we are talking about "Saber dance", which subsequently gained such world popularity that it was originally written for the final act of the ballet" Gayane ", it became executed as an independent work.

The story of "dance with sabers" Khachaturian, the content of the work, as well as interesting facts on our page.

History of creation

Since "Saber Dance" is a number included in the famous Aram Khachaturian's ballet "Gayane", then, of course, the creation of two works among themselves is inextricably linked. It should be noted that the forerunner of the emergence of these beautiful creations was another essay by the composer, which played an important role in their appearance.

In the late thirties, Aram Khachaturian, being the author of numerous works, was at the peak of his creative activity. About a year before the days of Armenian culture were held in Moscow in private conversation with influential party leader Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, he touched on the topic of creating the first national ballet. This conversation was not ignored, and after a while the composer received an order to create music for the choreographic performance on the subject on the Armenian theme. Burning up the task set before him to create a work that should captivate with national color, in the spring of 1939 he urgently leaves for Armenia, where, immersed in the world of folk music, he writes the ballet “Happiness” on the libretto by Gevorg Hovhannisyan. Half a year later, the performance, originally staged in Yerevan at the Opera Ballet Theater, was shown in Moscow in October. Despite the fact that the audience, captivated by Khachaturian’s music and choreography by choreographer Ilya Yagubyan, accepted the ballet very well, critics did not fail to note the shortcomings of the performance concerning his dramaturgy.

Khachaturian, who always treated his work with great responsibility, was unhappy with this result, and when in 1941 the leadership of the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater offered the composer to rework the ballet with a new libretto, he happily agreed. A well-known literary critic Konstantin Derzhavin wrote a literary basis for the new play, which was now named for the main character, Gayane.

The upcoming war did not stop the creative team and work on the new version of the ballet, which began in the autumn in Leningrad, continued in Perm, where Khachaturian was sent to the evacuation along with the troupe of the Kirov Theater. Score "Gayane"was completed in half a year, but it is important to note that since some of the plotlines from the ballet Happiness were preserved in the new performance, the composer transferred all the best that was in the old to his new work. It follows that The ballet "Gayane" became the reformed ballet "Happiness".

The premiere of the performance scheduled for December 1942 was near, and rehearsals of the ballet were already underway, but the episode which later became known as "Saber Dance"the score was not yet. The music of this masterpiece appeared literally on the eve of the premiere of Gayane, and it happened like this. The theater director called Aram Khachaturian and asked him to compose dance music, which simply needs to be inserted into the final action of the performance. The composer did not like this idea , and at first he strongly opposed. However, having calmed down a bit, Khachaturian nevertheless wrote the composition, having spent only eleven hours on her composition, giving the choreographer the score of the Dance of the Kurds, as the number was originally called, the maestro, on the first page, made an inscription on the first page: “Damn it, for the sake of ballet!”.

Interesting Facts

• Despite the fact that the ballet "Gayane", which had not descended from the stages of the leading theaters of the country for a quarter of a century, was very dear to Khachaturian's heart, the composer did not like the "Dance with Saber". Aram Ilyich was angry that because of the greatly increased popularity of the composition abroad, he was called none other than "Mr. Saybrdans" (Mr. "Sword Dance"). In addition, the maestro believed that "The Dance with Swords" pushed his elbows and eclipsed his other works.
• After the release of the ballet "Gayane", the incendiary music of the "Saber Dance" very quickly gained popularity and was broadcast almost every day on the radio. It was rumored that this was done in favor of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin himself, who was in a good mood when he listened to the composition, and he even started tapping with pleasure.
• Numbers from Aram Khachaturian’s ballet "Gayane": "Dance with Sabers", "Lullaby" and "Lezginka" for fifty years, were compulsorily included in the dance divertissement presented at the final performances at the Russian Academy of Ballet. AND I. Vaganova.
• In the middle of the forties, "The dance with sabers" was gaining popularity with lightning speed not only in our homeland, but also abroad. In 1948, it became a hit that visitors to bars and restaurants in the United States most often wanted to hear in playing jukeboxes. At the same time, three symphonic orchestras presented their versions of an attractive composition at once, and according to the results of the weekly American magazine Billboard, she immediately took the top positions among the works of classical music. Based on this, the New York news magazine "Newsweek" recommended declaring 1948 "Khachaturian's year in the United States."
• "Saber Dance" can boast that it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most performed and popular piece of music.
• The four bars from the middle section of “Saber Dance” were depicted on the front side of the Armenian denomination worth 50 drams, in circulation from 1998 to 2004.

• Directed by love to embed the music of "Saber Dance" in the soundtracks of their films. The film is so many that it is not possible to list everything, but here are some of them: "A couple of Barkley from Broadway" (USA, 1949), "One, two, three" (USA, 1961), "Amarcord" (Italy, 1973) , "Jumping Jack" (USA, 1986), "Repentance" (USSR, 1987), "Ruthless Defense" (USA, 2008), "Concert" (2009). "Paper Birds" (Spain, 2010).
• In the animation “Saber Dance” can be heard in such famous films as “Well, wait a minute!” No. 6, The Simpsons and Madagascar 3.
• "Dance with sabers" is currently widely used for dubbing various sporting events, for example, in figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics. In addition, the music of the composition by Aram Khachaturian is very much loved by the hockey players of “Buffalo Sabers”, a professional club serving in the National Hockey League, as well as the famous Armenian footballer Henrikh Mkhitaryan. When he played for Shakhtar Donetsk and scored a goal, each time the music of Khachaturian’s famous dance sounded at the stadium.

Content of "Saber Dance"

"Saber Dance" is a temperamental dance full of courageous strength and fire that is brightly painted in a national flavor. In it, Aram Khachaturian picturesquely displayed prowess and dexterity, which is usually demonstrated at festive folk festivals.

The fast paced, precise rhythm, the resonant, sometimes even sharp orchestral sound of the work emphasizes the dexterity of the brave Armenian men and their ability to wield weapons.

The composition, written in the key of G major and concluded by the author in a three-part form, opens with a four-stroke intro, which gives the listener a certain energetic attitude. Then performed by a group of wooden instruments and xylophone the impetuous melody of oriental dance rushes in rapidly, which from the first note carries away with its dashingness. Sharp harmonies and at first repeating, and then the seemingly trampling melodic line of dance create a vivid image of a strong people. The theme is repeated twice, and then rises to a small third up.

The following middle section of the composition is built on the contrast with the first part. Not only the character of the music changes, but also its size: instead of a four-lobe music, it becomes a three-lobe one. The composer here draws a captivating female image. A gentle melody with an exquisitely bizarre rhythm performed by violas and cellos, against the background of transparent accompaniment, besides decorated with lovely flute backs, especially attracts with its grace and grace. After this, the thematic material of the first part returns, in which the composer has so clearly painted the musical picture, that, even without seeing the dancers, one can clearly represent their proud movements.

"Saber Dance". This is a brilliant essay Aram Khachaturian called the most memorable and the craziest music of the XX century. In a short time, having flown around the world, it immediately gained immense popularity, which has been successfully preserved for decades. So in the present time it is almost impossible to meet a person who would not recognize this composition from her first sounds.