Gayane (Gayaneh or Gayne, the e is pronounced; ; ) is a four-act ballet with music by Aram Khachaturian. Originally composed in or before 1939, when it was first produced (in Yerevan) as Happiness. Revised in 1941–42 to a libretto by Konstantin Derzhavin and with choreography by Nina Aleksandrovna Anisimova (Derzhavin's wife), the score was revised in 1952 and in 1957, with a new plot. The stage design was by Nathan Altman (scenery) and Tatyana Bruni (costumes).
The first performance took place on 9 December 1942, staged by the Kirov Ballet while in Perm, Russia, during the Second World War evacuation, and was broadcast on the radio. The principal dancers were: Natalia Dudinskaya (Gayane), Nikolai Zubkovsky (Karen), Konstantin Sergeyev (Armen), Tatanya Vecheslova (Nune), and Boris Shavrov (Giko). The conductor was Pavel Feldt. The most famous parts of the ballet are the "Sabre Dance", which has been performed by many (including pop artists).
Khachaturian's original Gayane was the story of a young Armenian woman whose patriotic convictions conflict with her personal feelings on discovering her husband's treason. In later years the plot was modified several times, the resultant story emphasizing romance over nationalistic zeal.
Background
Gayane was based on an earlier ballet composed by Khachaturian called Happiness, which he developed in 1939 at the suggestion of Anastas Mikoyan, based on a libretto by Gevorg Hovhannisyan. The composer devised the new ballet when the Kirov ballet was in Perm. He started composing the score in autumn 1941, The suites exist in various configurations, and conductors often compile their own selection for any given performance.
Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey featured one of the less up-tempo sections of the Gayane third suite (the Adagio). The composer James Horner quoted from this same piece in three of his film scores, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and Aliens. The "Adagio" was also used, among other pieces by Khachaturian, in Tinto Brass's Caligula.
The "Sabre Dance" features prominently in the 1961 film One, Two, Three directed by Billy Wilder and starring James Cagney, as well as in Woody Allen's 2006 film Scoop. It has also been used in numerous other movies, TV shows, and video games. Because of its feverish tempo, the music has long been a staple of novelty acts such as plate twirling. It is also used as the introductory and promotional theme for the professional hockey team, the Buffalo Sabres.
See also
- Vanoush Khanamirian