The Comedians (Kabalevsky)

The Comedians, Op. 26, is an orchestral suite of ten numbers by Dmitry Kabalevsky. It is one of his best-known and best-loved works.[1]

In particular, the "Comedians' Galop" (No. 2) is the single most famous piece of music he ever wrote.[2] It is popular as a piece played on sports days in Japan.[3]

Background

In 1938 or 1939, Kabalevsky wrote incidental music for a children's play called The Inventor and the Comedians, by the Soviet writer Mark Daniel. The play was about the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg and a group of travelling buffoons; it was staged at the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow.[4][2][5] Mark Daniel died young the following year.[4]

Concert suite

In 1940, Kabalevsky chose ten short numbers from the incidental music and arranged them into a concert suite. The movements are:

• Prologue: Allegro vivace
• Comedians' Galop: Presto
• March: Moderato
• Waltz: Moderato
• Pantomime: Sostenuto e pesante
• Intermezzo: Allegro scherzando
• Little Lyrical Scene: Andantino semplice
• Gavotte: Allegretto
• Scherzo: Presto assai e molto leggiero
• Epilogue: Allegro molto e con brio.

The Comedians has been frequently recorded.

The "Galop" was used as the theme tune for the U.S. panel game show Masquerade Party for many years.[5]

References

1. NY Times, 18 February 1987
2. Classical Archives
3. "カバレフスキー：ピアノための組曲《道化師》 (Kabalevsky: The Comedians Suite for Orchestra, Piano Arrangement)" (in Japanese). 全音楽譜出版社. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
4. The Gramophone, December 1996
5. New Millennium Records