Merritts Hill Music

Лядов для духового оркестра

(Lyadov is also spelled Liadov or Liadow - no confusion in Russian: Лядов)

Dance of the Amazon - Танец амазонки

Dance of the Amazon was written at the request of the dancer Ida Rubinstein (no relation to the brothers Anton and Nikolai of the Conservatories). In his quest for an exotic atmosphere Lyadov, quite logically following the mythic origin of the female warriors, came up with a couple of Greek folk tunes. The result should not be taken too seriously, but it is beautifully constructed and is rightly still popular today.

This arrangement is presented in the original key - it is tempting to head for an easier one for the reeds, but then the piece loses its colour and it is repetitive enough that in the end there is not much tricky stuff to learn.