Gayaneh (Suite from the Ballet)

'Gayaneh' is a four-act ballet with music by Aram Khachaturian composed in 1941-1942. The music is typically 'Khachaturian' with use of Armenian Folk music and referring to Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. It's with a broadness of effect which one associates with film music, orchestral glitter that turns tinsel, towering climaxes tumble into the brutal and bombastic passages but also genuine poetry, suavely ravishing and rhythmically piquant. Khachaturian himself distributed the best pieces from the ballet over three suites. This arrangement contains the five movements from mainly the 2nd suite: 'Gayaneh and Giko', 'Mountaineers' Dance', 'Armen's Variation', 'Dance of the Rose Maidens' and 'Lezghinka.