Search - Khachaturian, Fistoulari, London Sym Orch :: Gayne Ballet Suite

Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) has written some of the most recognizable music this century, especially the "Sabre Dance" from Gayne (1942), which has appeared in everything from movies, cartoons, television shows, even commercials. What we miss, of course, is all the other good music in the rest of the suite, which is what we have here. This forty-six-minute suite starts off with the "Sabre Dance" but moves immediately into a softer stateliness that calms everything down. And speaking of movies: "Gayne's Adagio" was used by Stanley Kubrick in 2001: A Space Odyssey--the spaceship all alone in space. Spooky and sad at the same time. --Paul Cook