Sabre Dance - WikiHQ

"Sabre Dance" is an orchestral movement from the final act of Aram Khachaturian's 1942 ballet Gayane, in which dancers display their skill with sabres. It is Khachaturian's most recognizable work worldwide and is considered one of the signature pieces of 20th-century popular music. The composition is a fast-paced work, lasting about two and a half minutes, and incorporates elements of Armenian folk music.

The piece achieved widespread popularity in the United States in 1948, becoming a classical hit with orchestral recordings and a piano version by Oscar Levant, and a jukebox sensation with charting versions by pop artists like Woody Herman. It has been widely adapted across genres and instruments, including for violin by Jascha Heifetz, for piano by György Cziffra, and in a hit rock cover by Dave Edmunds. Over decades, its extensive use on screen and in popular culture has made it a "global musical shorthand for cartoonish urgency" With a libretto by Konstantin Derzhavin, Gayane premiered on December 9, 1942 at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre. Set on a collective farm (kolkhoz) in Soviet Armenia, it centers on Gayane, a patriotic young woman, and her husband, Giko. The drama unfolds when Giko betrays the Soviet regime by joining a band of smugglers and setting fire to the farm. In a mounting frenzy, he nearly kills his wife and daughter before they are rescued by Kazakov, a Red Army border patrol commander. After Giko's capture, Kazakov, who loves Gayane, marries her.

thumb|upright|Khachaturian in 1943

Khachaturian wrote "Sabre Dance", originally called the Dance of the Kurds, after completing the score of Gayane. He did so at the Kirov Theatre's request, during its World War II evacuation to Perm (then called Molotov). Critics have also pointed to Russian orientalist precedents. compared it to the "Polovtsian Dances" from Borodin's Prince Igor (1890) and Balakirev's Islamey (1869). Tigranov and Victor Yuzefovich likewise cited the "Polovtsian Dances" as a prototype for its energy and "emotional frenzy." Steven J. Haller suggested influence from the "Sword Dance" in Reinhold Glière's 1927 ballet The Red Poppy.

Composition

"Sabre Dance" is a fast-paced (marked Presto) The score calls for several specialized woodwind instruments, including piccolo, English horn, and bass clarinet. and features a cello solo and alto saxophone.

The ending creates musical tension by combining different musical scales and keys simultaneously. The work also features elements of polyrhythm, with duple and triple meters overlapping in different instrumental voices. Pedal points and bass ostinatos heighten the dramatic tension and dynamic intensity.

Reception and legacy

Jay Nordlinger described "Sabre Dance" as "one of the most famous pieces of music", while NPR's Tom Huizenga called it "one of the catchiest, most familiar—perhaps most maddening—tunes to come out of the 20th century." Armenia's 2012 nomination of Khachaturian's manuscripts for the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme described "Sabre Dance" as one of the "most popular compositions of our age." Sportswriter Bob Ryan called it "one of the great uplifting pieces of music ever written." Jonathan McCollum and Andy Nercessian wrote that "Sabre Dance" (and Gayane in general), along with Khachaturian's other ballet, Spartacus, are "perhaps the only works through which the world really knows Armenian music."

thumb|A promo insert by [[RCA Victor, 1948 earned Khachaturian a worldwide reputation and continues to define his legacy. He has sometimes been called "Mr. Sabre Dance", In 1963, he called it "one unruly and rowdy child in my musical family," adding, "Honestly, if I had known it would gain such popularity and start elbowing aside my other works, I would never have written it!" He felt other melodies in Gayane deserved equal attention and told an American interviewer, "It's like one button on my shirt, and I have many buttons." When asked about its popularity by American TV representatives in Moscow, he jokingly responded, "Serves you right!" Composer Nikolai Kapustin recalled that Khachaturian was particularly irritated by the casual, whistling performances of the piece, once humorously mimicking such renditions for his close friends.

Noted for its explosive energy and relentless pace, "furiously paced", "rousing". Early American critics found the piece "bold and spirited", The New Record called it "the sort of piece that catches on quickly" Michael Dervan found it catchy and rhythmically insistent, while David Schwartz described it as "raucous, silly, and altogether enjoyable." Edward Greenfield opined that while "Sabre Dance" may be the most striking of the Gayane dances, "it is far from being the best." During Khachaturian's 1968 U.S. tour, Time magazine described the piece as a "tuneless orchestral blooey." Pianist Sviatoslav Richter called it his most hated piece and "a work that stinks to high heaven."

Recordings, arrangements, and covers

Orchestral recordings

thumb|The cover of a 1953 [[vinyl record of "Sabre Dance" by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra]]

In 1943 Khachaturian arranged three orchestral suites from the ballet Gayane, with "Sabre Dance" included in Suite No. 3, published in the Soviet Union in 1947 by Muzgiz (State Music Publishing House) and in the West by Schirmer and Le Chant du Monde.

"Sabre Dance" received its American premiere during the 1944–45 season with Efrem Kurtz conducting the Kansas City Philharmonic; After World War II, the work rapidly became a popular classical sensation in the West. At its New York Philharmonic premiere in June 1946 at Lewisohn Stadium, conductor Alexander Smallens encored "Sabre Dance" following prolonged applause. That same year, major American orchestras, namely the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Artur Rodziński and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Kurtz recorded the piece. Both topped Billboards classical charts and became top-selling classical releases of the year, The piece was concurrently recorded by the "semi-classical" studio orchestras led by Victor Young, Ray Bloch, and Harry Horlick, among others.

"Sabre Dance" was recorded frequently in the 1950s, most notably by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabien Sevitzky, Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra (Felix Slatkin), Boston Pops Orchestra (Arthur Fiedler), and London Symphony Orchestra (Anatole Fistoulari). As conductor, Khachaturian recorded the piece with the Philharmonia Orchestra (1954), Vienna Philharmonic (1962), and the London Symphony Orchestra (1977). Other significant recordings include by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy in 1967 and a video recording by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Simon Rattle in 2013.

Instrumental arrangements

thumb|[[Oscar Levant (pictured here playing the piece in The Barkleys of Broadway) helped popularize "Sabre Dance" in the United States.]]

Oscar Levant arranged a piano solo version, releasing it on Columbia Records in 1948. It reached No. 6 on the year's classical chart. He performed it frequently on the radio program Kraft Music Hall starting from December 1947 and the 1949 film The Barkleys of Broadway, described as "a brazen bit of cross-marketing" that let audiences see him play. The New Record wrote that Levant played it "with fine showmanship", with Current Biography Yearbook suggesting that it was Levant's rendition that "received popular attention." Benno Moiseiwitsch recorded Levant's transcription in 1948, Liberace frequently performed it in his early 1950s TV and concert appearances.

Violinist Jascha Heifetz created a technically demanding transcription for violin and piano in 1948, which has been called a "brilliant trifle" and "positively over-the-top." Violinist Vanessa-Mae covered a techno-flavoured version by Tolga Kashif in her 2004 album Choreography, which has been well received. The piece has inspired multiple accordion and harmonica arrangements, most notably by Mogens Ellegaard (1959) and Larry Adler (1978), respectively. James Galway adapted it for flute, recording it alongside other Khachaturian works with the Royal Philharmonic in 1985. It has been arranged for several folk instruments. These include a bongo version featuring Jack Costanzo in Pete Rugolo's 1955 album Rugolomania, a balalaika version by , which appeared in the 1969 Soviet film ', and an arrangement for Armenian instruments shvi and duduk by Ruben Altunyan (1999).

Popular music covers

In 1948—dubbed the "Khachaturian Year" by Newsweek—"Sabre Dance" became a jukebox sensation in the United States. As the U.S. and the Soviet Union had no reciprocal copyright treaty, the piece was effectively in the public domain and became subject to "elegant plagiarism." Contemporary audiences embraced it as a novelty, peaking No. 1 in May 1948. Three versions charted on Billboards Most-Played Juke Box Records: Woody Herman's dance-band foxtrot (arranged by Ralph Burns) reached No. 6, Freddy Martin's instrumental "Sabre Dance Boogie" hit No. 7, and The Andrews Sisters' vocal rendition (lyrics by Allan Roberts and Lester Lee) with harmonica accompaniment landed at No. 20. Billboard called Martin's version "the most commercial," while Herman's was deemed more authentic. It was, however, released "a little too late to cash in on the Khatchaturian bonanza."

Welsh guitarist Dave Edmunds' band Love Sculpture released a frenzied blues/psychedelic guitar, bass and drums instrumental version in November 1968 that propelled them to fame. In the Soviet Union, it was popularized with an episode of the animated short Nu, pogodi! (1973).

"Sabre Dance" has featured in many feature films. Adapted by André Previn, it is regularly employed to amplify comic effect in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961). In Tengiz Abuladze's Repentance (1987), it is used to inject tension at a key moment. In The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), the Coen brothers use it to underscore a rapid montage of the development of the hula hoop. In Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963) the piece is adapted by Nino Rota as a recurring lighthearted motif, and a parody, also by Rota, appears in Amarcord (1973). The main theme in Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), reminiscent of "Sabre Dance", is used to convey whimsical chaos and comic exuberance. In "A Piano in the House", a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone, it functions as a musical trigger, while in The Amazing Race 28 (2016), it appears in an episode filmed in Armenia.

In sports

The piece has also been used prominently in sports. The National Hockey League (NHL) team Buffalo Sabres have used the piece as a intro/skate-in song since the team was established in 1970. Sportswriter Bob Ryan found it to be "the greatest piece of intro music in sport." specifically using Vanessa-Mae's version.

"Sabre Dance" has been a recurring choice for figure skating programs, performed by competitors from numerous countries in both national and international events. Among the most prominent skaters who have performed to the piece are Toller Cranston, Scott Hamilton, Michelle Kwan, Johnny Weir, and Evgeni Plushenko. The piece has also been used in women's-only synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics.

A snippet of "Sabre Dance" was featured in the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony held in Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi, Russia, on February 7. Between 2010 and 2013, "Sabre Dance" was played at Donbas Arena, the venue of the Ukrainian football club Shakhtar in Donetsk, whenever the Armenian player Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a goal.

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