Balalaika

This charming piece pays homage to this beloved Russian folk instrument. The chorus brilliantly imitates the characteristic manner in which the balalaika is played, by rhythmically strumming its three strings with a finger at the end of a loose wrist. Each voice part divides into either two or three parts; two of the parts imitate the characteristic ostinato at the open fifth - a plucking of two open strings, while the third voice is assigned the melody and the text. For the sake of clarity, the melodic voice is identified in the score by its own stems, independent of the other two voices.