Sabre Dance by Khachaturian

[Mike Neer]

As with many great themes in classical music, many times we know the melody but not the title or composer. This was one of those for me. While making dinner on Thanksgiving, I had this music playing in my head, which made me laugh. I kept thinking about it and thought I would start putting together an arrangement. But not knowing the title, I had to watch a bunch of YouTube videos of classical music themes, and in particular ones used in chase scenes. Voila! There it was: Aram Khachaturian’s 1942 composition “Sabre Dance” from a ballet he had written. From there I could seek out the sheet music.

https://youtu.be/Knj3s88erZE?si=ZG1FbITncUQV_Zpr

[Will Houston]

Nice one Mike

[David Irving]

Very nice.

[David Becker]

Thanks for that, Mike! Wonderfully done! As kid (a l-o-n-g time ago!), we had been given a large set of 45's of nothing but classical music. We 4 kids used to act out stuff while listening, and the Sabre Dance was one of our favorites, along with The 1812 Overture, Ritual Dance of Fire, Flight of the Bumblebee, Capricio Italien, Night on Bald Mountain, and, of course, many of the Nutcracker pieces. You brought back some very fond memories. Happy Holidays!!

[Anthony Lis]

Great!

[Fred Treece]

Well done, Mike. I like your phrasing, and where you mixed in the slides.

I remember hearing Sabre Dance on the Ed Sullivan Show, during novelty act performances. Dave Edmunds recorded a blazing guitar version of it in the early 90’s. That’s when the tune got my attention again. Weirdly enough, I was just practicing it this week.

[Marshall Woodall]

Excellent Mike! This tune is ingrained in my mind to represent a hectic, chaotic vibe thanks to the over consumption of cartoons as a kid. So funny.

[Mike Neer]

Thanks everyone. Sometimes we take some of these themes for granted. I’m happy revisiting and playing around with them. It’s all very nostalgic and at the same time inspiring my progress.

[HowardR]

Fantastic.....I notice some of your economy picking as well.....but, we have to get you some "trombone pants" if you ever play out......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGX6dkVmDoI

[Mike Neer]

Fantastic.....I notice some of your economy picking as well.....but, we have to get you some "trombone pants" if you ever play out......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGX6dkVmDoI

That’s amazing, untoppable!
But if that is the sound of a sabre dance, there will be bloodshed, accidentally.