Tarantella

Rich traditions of Russian music started out around the 10th century with wandering minstrel singers performing heroic poems. Sadly, these made up stories were not recorded until the 1600s.

These minstrels would carry out at weddings and court celebrations. So singing was the most important way of making music for the duration of those times, in particular at church.

Music in the Orthodox Church was based on traditions from the Byzantine Empire, so there were a lot of bell ringing and choral singing going on. Even altho the most famous composers were from the 19th and 20th centuries, the rich musical traditions started out in the Middle Ages.

When I think of famous works by Russian composers, The Flight of the Bumblebee and the Nutcracker Suite with their beautiful, rich expression comes to mind. One composer. Prokofiev, wrote 3 operas when he was a teenager. Another artist, Stravinsky wrote a ballet and his music was employed in Fantasia, a Walt Disney movie.

In the 1700s, Peter the Great invited composers to introduce music to the Russian Court. During the Romantic Period, a group of Russian composers nicknamed the Mighty Five wrote music based on Russian tradition.

During the 20th Century, traditions of fine music continued with widely known and esteemed performers, conductors and composers. You may see galore of them here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T7Zloj39kI

Here is a list of the top 15 Russian Composers that I am intimate with. I have played most of their selections of music along with a lot of of my piano students. Keep in mind that galore Russian composers were also famous pianists.

1. Arensky: A Dream on the Volga (opera)

2. Balakirev: Gondolier’s Song

3. Borodin: Gliding Dance of the Maidens

4. Cui: Bolero, Opus 17

5. Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila (opera), Sabre Dance in G major

6. Kabalevsky: Opus 81 – Spring Dances (1965)

7. Mussorgsky: Night on the Bold Mountain.

8. Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 and Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64

9. Rachmaninoff: Piano Prelude in C# minor

10. Rubinstein, Anton and Nikolai: Dmitry Donskoy and Tarantella in G minor.

11. Scriabin: Poem of Ecstasy

12. Shostakovich: Festive Overture, Opus 96. Theme music for Summer Olympics for 1980.

13. Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring and the Five Fingers

14. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Op. 49, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake

15. Tcherepnin: Ajanta’s Frescoes (Ballet)

Two widely known and esteemed music schools that proceed to train on-going famous composers are the Moscow Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Tarantella Pic

Tarantella Picture

Tarantella Image

Tarantella Photo

Tarantella Picture

Tarantella Photo

Most helpful customer reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Tarantella – “Esqueletos”
By BC
A melancholic and moody mix of the darker side of alt. country and more traditional Latin/Spanish-inspired compositions, featuring stand-up bass, guitar, banjo, violin, drums (as well as organ, accordion, Jew’s harp and other unnamed instruments?), and showcasing accomplished and versatile female vocals in both Spanish and English.

Robert Ferbrache (Sixteen Horsepower, Slim Cesna’s Auto Club, Blood Axis, et cetera) acts as guitarist, producer and recording engineer on this release, and in so doing, gives this recording the sort of full-rage compositional complexity and perfectionism to be expected from a band featuring such a renowned studio engineer in its lineup.

Fans of Neko Case, Mazzy Star, Elysian Feilds, Calexico, Sixteen Horsepower, Devotchka (and even Pink Martini) will all find something to enjoy here.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Esqueletos
By Bezweifeln
I loved this record. The singer has a haunting melancholic voice and the musicianship is first rate, Perhaps comparing this to a spanish language Mazzy Starr gives the reader an idea, but I have little else in my collection that sounds similar to this. I don’t need to know the Spanish really but go back and forth with my mind between guitar and voice, marvelling at the simple beauty of this recording.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
A unique sounding album which is actually kind of good – the production is wonderful – not for everyone
By C. Cross
Tarantella’s “Esqueletos” is a pretty unique album – it blends together elements of European, Spanish and indie rock that gives it an interesting sound. The production is pretty well done – everything is crystal clear and you can make out all the instruments. The only “questionable” part is the singer who’s definitely pretty good, but she might turn a couple people off. I’m not sure who else to compare her with. Lyrically most of the songs are sung in Spanish, so I have no idea what’s being said. Most of the songs are kind’ve catchy and feature some interesting not-used-that-much instruments (there’s a banjo in a couple songs – “Bonus Track 1″ is a very fun and dancable song). I would say that a band who sounds most similar to Tarantella is The Decemberists (minus all that 18th century Europe talk). It sounds like a polka dance album at times (it’s definitely dancy in spots – “Dark Horse”, for example). It’s not for everyone, but for those with an open mind this album is pretty good! Recommended.

Highlights include:
“A Chi Sa Dove Sara”
“Dark Horse”
“Elder Tree”
“Mexican Wine”
“Bonus Track 1″
“Bonus Track 2″
the rest are usually pretty decent

See all 3 customer reviews…