The Comedians, Op. 26, is an orchestral suite of ten numbers by Dmitry Kabalevsky. It is one of his best-known and best-loved works.[1]
In particular, the "Comedians' Galop" (No. 2) is the single most famous piece of music he ever wrote.[2] It is popular as a piece played on sports days in Japan.[3]
Background
[edit]In 1938 or 1939, Kabalevsky wrote incidental music for a children's play called The Inventor and the Comedians, by the Soviet writer Mark Daniel. The play was about the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg and a group of travelling buffoons; it was staged at the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow.[4][2][5] Mark Daniel died young the following year.[4]
Concert suite
[edit]In 1940, Kabalevsky chose ten short numbers from the incidental music and arranged them into a concert suite. The movements are:
- Prologue: Allegro vivace
- Comedians' Galop: Presto
- March: Moderato
- Waltz: Moderato
- Pantomime: Sostenuto e pesante
- Intermezzo: Allegro scherzando
- Little Lyrical Scene: Andantino semplice
- Gavotte: Allegretto
- Scherzo: Presto assai e molto leggiero
- Epilogue: Allegro molto e con brio.
The Comedians has been frequently recorded.
The "Galop" was used as the theme tune for the U.S. panel game show Masquerade Party for many years.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ NY Times, 18 February 1987
- ^ a b Classical Archives
- ^ "カバレフスキー：ピアノための組曲《道化師》 (Kabalevsky: The Comedians Suite for Orchestra, Piano Arrangement)" (in Japanese). 全音楽譜出版社. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
- ^ a b The Gramophone, December 1996
- ^ a b New Millennium Records
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