Oriental Fantasy "Islamey"
The Oriental Fantasy "Islamey" by Mili Balakirev has assumed an infamous and yet irresistible reputation in the piano repertoire. For a time, Islamey was touted widely as the most technically difficult work in the literature, and the extent of this was shown in Maurice Ravel's desire to make his suite of pieces, Gaspard de la Nuit, "more difficult than Balakirev's Islamey".
Influenced by the Oriental music of the East, Balakirev's Islamey is a work in three parts. The opening motif introduces the main thematic material of the fantasy, which is embellished upon through use of double thirds, octave figurations, and other pianistic devices throughout the work. The first part of the work is derived largely from the opening motif. The second part of the work is perhaps the most distinctively oriental of the three. The slow, dreamy and exotic writing here is in stark contrast to the bombastic and fiery outer parts; the beauty of this middle section is often curiously overlooked by those who dismiss Islamey as a showpiece with little to no musical substance at all. In due time, the work enters its third section, returning to the thematic material of the opening, eventually arriving at a breathtaking coda as thrilling to the pianist as it is to the audience.
Islamey was premiered by the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, and championed by pianists such as the great Franz Liszt. It has retained its reputation as a technical warhorse for the pianist; the writing is pianistic and natural for the most part, full of octaves, scales, and double notes. Live performance of this work is risky for even the most hardened concert pianist, but the electrifying nature of the work renders every risk worthwhile.
Influenced by the Oriental music of the East, Balakirev's Islamey is a work in three parts. The opening motif introduces the main thematic material of the fantasy, which is embellished upon through use of double thirds, octave figurations, and other pianistic devices throughout the work. The first part of the work is derived largely from the opening motif. The second part of the work is perhaps the most distinctively oriental of the three. The slow, dreamy and exotic writing here is in stark contrast to the bombastic and fiery outer parts; the beauty of this middle section is often curiously overlooked by those who dismiss Islamey as a showpiece with little to no musical substance at all. In due time, the work enters its third section, returning to the thematic material of the opening, eventually arriving at a breathtaking coda as thrilling to the pianist as it is to the audience.
Islamey was premiered by the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, and championed by pianists such as the great Franz Liszt. It has retained its reputation as a technical warhorse for the pianist; the writing is pianistic and natural for the most part, full of octaves, scales, and double notes. Live performance of this work is risky for even the most hardened concert pianist, but the electrifying nature of the work renders every risk worthwhile.
| Islamey | 8:02 | Wee. P |