Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy

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A Cover of an edition of Islamey. Note the dedication to Rubinstein

Islamey: an Oriental Fantasy is a fantasy for piano by Russian composer Mily Balakirev, written in September 1869.

Balakirev, a committed nationalist whose music was influenced by Russian traditions, was inspired to write the piece after a trip to the 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 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 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 and is, as he assured me, well known among the Crimean Tatars" (Letter to Reis, 1892).

The piece was composed in the course of one month, in stark contrast to Balakirev's usual habit of taking sometimes years to complete a work. It is divided into three distinct parts, an opening which introduces the main theme, a middle that introduces an entirely new theme (both described in the above quote), and a third which returns to the main theme.

The many existing editions have numerous ossias (easier alternatives) to passages, because of its immense difficulty. Its technical difficulty made it a favourite with virtuosi such as Nikolai Rubinstein (who premiered the piece) and Franz Liszt. Balakirev, considered a virtuoso pianist in his time, once admitted that there were passages in the piece that he "couldn't manage."

Despite some dismissal that the work is merely a showpiece, Islamey has had a lasting impact on piano solo music; Ravel once remarked to a friend that his goal in writing Gaspard de la nuit was to compose a piece that was "more difficult than Balakirev's Islamey." Alexander Borodin included quotations from the piece in his opera Prince Igor, while Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov did the same in Scheherazade. The piece was also arranged for orchestra by Alfredo Casella shortly before Balakirev's death.

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 Lesginska from the Carbadian-Balkarian ASSR, which differs notably from Balakirev's work in its time signature. The second theme has been demonstrated to have the origins as related to Balakirev, namely that of a Tartar love song. Balakirev himself indicated in the score that the coda should be played similarly to the Russian Trepak, again a traditional Russian tune.