# Islamey

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Piano music by Balakirev

[*Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Balakirev_islamej.ogg)

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***Islamey: Oriental Fantasy*** ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): Исламей: Восточная фантазия, [romanized](/source/Romanization_of_Russian): *Islamey: Vostochnaya fantaziya*), is a composition for [piano](/source/Piano) by Russian [composer](/source/Composer) [Mily Balakirev](/source/Mily_Balakirev) written in 1869. [Harold C. Schonberg](/source/Harold_C._Schonberg) noted that *Islamey* was "at one time…considered the most difficult of all piano pieces and is still one of the knucklebusters."[1] Its difficulty has led to the creation of numerous [ossias](/source/Ossia) (alternative passages) and made it popular as a [virtuosic](/source/Virtuosic) showpiece.

## Composition

Balakirev, a committed nationalist whose music was influenced by Russian traditions, was inspired to write the piece after a trip to the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), as he relates in a letter:

...the majestic beauty of luxuriant nature there and the beauty of the inhabitants that harmonises with it – all these things together made a deep impression on me... Since I interested myself in the vocal music there, I made the acquaintance of a [Circassian](/source/Circassia) prince, who frequently came to me and played folk tunes on his instrument, that was something like a violin. One of them, called Islamey, a dance-tune, pleased me extraordinarily and with a view to the work I had in mind on *[Tamara](/source/Tamara_(symphonic_poem))* I began to arrange it for the piano. The second theme was communicated to me in Moscow by an Armenian actor, who came from the [Crimea](/source/Crimea) and is, as he assured me, well known among the [Crimean Tatars](/source/Crimean_Tatars). (Letter to Eduard Reiss (1851–1911), 1892)

The piece was composed in the course of one month in 1869, in stark contrast to Balakirev's usual habit of taking sometimes years to complete a work. In the score he noted that he started the work on 9/21 August in Moscow, and completed it on 13/25 September in Saint Petersburg. Balakirev revised the work in 1902.[2] It is divided into three distinct parts, an opening (*[Allegro](/source/Tempo#Italian_tempo_markings) agitato*), which introduces the main theme, a middle (*Tranquillo – Andantino espressivo*) that introduces an entirely new theme (both described in the above quote), and a third (*Allegro vivo – Presto furioso*), which returns to the main theme.

## Difficulty

Example of an *[ossia](/source/Ossia)*

The many existing editions have numerous alternative passages ([ossias](/source/Ossia)) – most are easier, some are more difficult. This technical difficulty made it a favourite with [virtuosos](/source/Virtuoso) such as [Nikolai Rubinstein](/source/Nikolai_Rubinstein) (who premiered the piece), [Franz Liszt](/source/Franz_Liszt), and in recorded history, [Simon Barere](/source/Simon_Barere), [Julius Katchen](/source/Julius_Katchen), [György Cziffra](/source/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Cziffra), [Boris Berezovsky](/source/Boris_Berezovsky_(pianist)), [Mikhail Pletnev](/source/Mikhail_Pletnev), [Ivo Pogorelić](/source/Ivo_Pogoreli%C4%87), and [Lang Lang](/source/Lang_Lang). Balakirev, considered a virtuoso pianist in his time, once admitted that there were passages in the piece that he "couldn't manage." In addition, [Alexander Scriabin](/source/Alexander_Scriabin) seriously damaged his right hand fanatically practicing the piece along with Liszt's *[Réminiscences de Don Juan](/source/R%C3%A9miniscences_de_Don_Juan)*, though the injury eventually healed.[3]

## Legacy and influences

*Islamey* has had a lasting influence on piano solo music; [Ravel](/source/Maurice_Ravel) once remarked to a friend that his goal in writing *[Gaspard de la nuit](/source/Gaspard_de_la_nuit)* was to compose a piece that was "more difficult than Balakirev's *Islamey.*" This turned out to be *Scarbo*, the third piece in the suite. [Alexander Borodin](/source/Alexander_Borodin) included [quotations](/source/Musical_quotation) from the piece in his opera *[Prince Igor](/source/Prince_Igor)*, while [Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov](/source/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov) did the same in *[Scheherazade](/source/Scheherazade_(Rimsky-Korsakov))*. The piece has been twice arranged for [orchestra](/source/Orchestra), by [Alfredo Casella](/source/Alfredo_Casella) shortly before Balakirev's death, and by [Sergei Lyapunov](/source/Sergei_Lyapunov). [Eugene Ormandy](/source/Eugene_Ormandy) and the [Philadelphia Orchestra](/source/Philadelphia_Orchestra) recorded Casella's orchestration in stereo on February 26, 1961, for [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records).[4]

Recent musicological work has shown that the melodies that Balakirev preserved in this work are still present in folk music in the former USSR. For instance, the first theme has been found to be a variety of the *[Lezginka](/source/Lezginka)* from [Kabardino-Balkaria](/source/Kabardino-Balkaria), which differs notably from Balakirev's work in its [time signature](/source/Time_signature). The second theme has been demonstrated to have origins related to Balakirev[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*], namely that of a Tatar love song. Balakirev himself indicated in the score that the [coda](/source/Coda_(music)) should be played similarly to the Russian [Tropak](/source/Tropak), again a traditional Russian tune.

## Recordings

Notable recordings include: [Simon Barere](/source/Simon_Barere) (1947, APR), [Vladimir Horowitz](/source/Vladimir_Horowitz) (1950, Sony/BMG), [Emil Gilels](/source/Emil_Gilels) (1951, DOREMI), [Julius Katchen](/source/Julius_Katchen) (1958, Decca), [György Cziffra](/source/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Cziffra) (1957 & 1970, EMI), [Boris Berezovsky](/source/Boris_Berezovsky_(pianist)) (1996, Teldec) and [Mikhail Pletnev](/source/Mikhail_Pletnev) (2000, DG).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Harold C. Schonberg (15 March 1976). ["Music: Legendary Pianist (Published 1976)"](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/15/archives/music-legendary-pianist-virtuoso-recital-given-by-shura-cherkassky.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 2 January 2022. "Islamey" by Balakirev [was] at one time…considered the most difficult of all piano pieces and is still one of the knucklebusters.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Balakirev, Mily Alekseyevich"](http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40685) by Stuart Cambell, *[Grove Music Online](/source/Grove_Music_Online)* (subscription required)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Crotchets_3-0)** [Scholes, Percy](/source/Percy_Scholes) (1969) [1924]. [*Crotchets: A Few Short Musical Notes*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Zv-ICh8SFg8C&q=scriabin+damage+hand&pg=PA141). Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press. p. 141. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7222-5836-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7222-5836-1). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [855415](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/855415). ISBN is for January 2001 edition.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Orchestral"](https://web.archive.org/web/20181106092716/http://www.geocities.jp/ormandy/orchestra.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.geocities.jp/ormandy/orchestra.html) on 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2012-03-02.

## Sources

- Preface: *Islamei: Orientalische Fantasie.* [C. F. Peters](/source/Edition_Peters)

## External links

- [Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy](https://imslp.org/wiki/Islamey:_An_Oriental_Fantasy_(Balakirev,_Mily)): Scores at the [International Music Score Library Project](/source/International_Music_Score_Library_Project)

v t e Mily Balakirev List of compositions Symphonies Symphony No. 1 (1898) Symphony No. 2 (1908) Orchestral Tamara (1882) Piano Islamey (1869) Category

Authority control databases International VIAF National United States France BnF data Israel Other MusicBrainz work

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