Mily Balakirev was the senior member of the “Big Five”, a cadre of Russian nationalist composers (in case you’re wondering, the other four were Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Koraskov, Aleksandr Borodin, and Cesar Cui). Balakirev spent some time exploring the Caucasus region in southern Russia, and came across the “islamey”, a cultural dance that featured lots of rapid movement. In this vein, he wrote the piece that is regarded as the most difficult in all of the piano literature.
Nikolai Rubinstein premiered the piece just two months after it was completed in 1869. The musical world has never been the same since.
Disclaimer:
Islamey is one of my favorite piano pieces (not that I can actually play it!), and so I created this arrangement mostly as a Finale (and later, Dorico) engraving exercise. It almost certainly is unplayable on handbells. For that reason, only the single copy version is available for purchase; you’re welcome to get in touch if you assemble a sufficiently intrepid ensemble and wish to have a go at performing it.
Handbells (5 octaves) plus handchimes (5 octaves)
AGEHR Level: 7 (per J.D. Frizzell).
MP3:
| Single Copy Version (PDF): | $5.00 US |