Khachaturian (1903-78) - Adagio
of Spartacus and Phrygia
Aram Khachaturian
originally intended to become a biologist but, as luck would have it, got
sidetracked into a musical career. A staunch Armenian, virtually all his
music celebrates the Armenian national culture, replete with exotic colours
and vibrant, sometimes almost brutal rhythms. His melodic devices are frequently
Mugam-derived, often inciting toccata-like passage-work which can, occasionally,
seem maddening to western ears. Khachaturian's music is not intellectual;
in fact it can often sound brash to the point of luridness.
The four-act
ballet Spartacus was produced in Leningrad in 1956 (so it's roughly
contemporary with West Side Story, though there all similarity ends).
Huge expanses of its spectacular action are accompanied by propulsive,
bruisingly rhythmic “toccata-like passage-work”. Thus the Adagio,
when it arrives, sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb, as the most
memorable (if not quite the only) tune in the ballet. But, what
a magnificently full-blooded tune! Even if you think the opening of Bax's
Tintagel
would have been more apt, you can understand the use of this music, with
its refulgently aspiring melodic line, for the seafaring TV saga The
Onedin Line (dammit - I promised myself I wasn't going to mention that!).
.
© Paul Serotsky
29, Carr Street,
Kamo,
Whangarei 0101,
Northland,
New Zealand
Conditions
for use apply. Details here
Copyright in these notes is retained by the author without whose prior written permission they may not be used, reproduced, or kept in any form of data storage system. Permission for use will generally be granted on application, free of charge subject to the conditions that (a) the author is duly credited, and (b) a donation is made to a charity of the author's choice.
Return to:
Music
on the Web