Polonaise in D major Op.55
Лядов для духового оркестра
(Lyadov is also spelled Liadov or Liadow - no confusion in Russian: Лядов)
Full title:-
"Polonaise for the Unveiling of the Statue of Anton Rubinstein"
«Торжественный полонез по случаю установления памятника А. Рубинштейну»
Полонез написан ко дню открытия статуи А. Г. Рубинштейна. Он был исполнен 14 ноября 1902 г. в зале Петербургской консерватории под управлением Н. А. Римского-Корсакова.
The adoption of a Polish dance for ceremonial purposes by the Russians seems paradoxical, but it can be traced back to the arrival at the court of Catherine the Great of the Polish (or possibly Belorussian) composer Josef (to give one version of his forename) Kozlovsky. This example by Lyadov of a ceremonial polonaise was written, as the title meticulously explains, to honour the founder of the St Petersburg Conservatory, Anton Rubinstein (1829-94); the conductor at the ceremony on 14.11.1902 was Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
This Polonaise is in D major, not a traditional key for modern winds, but any effort to transpose it robs it of its brilliance and 18th-century colour.
The earlier C major Polonaise (In Memory of Pushkin) is also now available.