Kamarinskaya

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Composed during a lengthy visit to Warsaw in September of 1848, Glinka's Kamarinskaya, also known as a Fantasy on Two Russian Folksongs, incorporates two melodies the composer was familiar with since his childhood, as mentioned in his own Memoirs:

Just by chance I discovered a relationship between the wedding song Iz-za Gor (From beyond the Mountain), which I heard in the countryside and the dancing tune Kamarinskaya, which everyone knows. My fantasy ran high and wrote and orchestral work called Wedding Song and Dance Song, which was subsequently changed to Kamarinskaya.

Even though the work was ultimately titled after the dancing tune, it actually begins with the wedding song Iz-za Gor, Gor Vysokiikh (From beyond the Mountain, the High Mountain). The Kamarinskaya dancing song, a type of dancing tune known as naigrysh which features a melody repeated over a drone until the dancers exhaust themselves, does not appear until measure 53. Despite the late introduction, the dancing tune is repeated no less than 72 times. With Glinka's near-endless capacity for creative variation and brilliant orchestration, the repetition of a simple dance tune has been transformed into an orchestral fireworks display that has thrilled audiences for more than 160 years.