The Comedians (Kabalevsky)

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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] (1942).

Background[]

In 1938 or 1939, Kabalevsky wrote incidental music for a children's play called The Inventor and the Comedians, by the Soviet Jewish writer . The play was staged at the in Moscow, and it was about the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg and a group of travelling buffoons.[4][2][5] Mark Daniel died young the following year.[4]

Concert suite[]

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[]

  1. ^ NY Times, 18 February 1987
  2. ^ a b Classical Archives
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ a b The Gramophone, December 1996
  5. ^ a b New Millennium Records
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