2 dashes of Western, one dash of Arabian

[DennisS]

I have long been an admirer of Western music, given extra appeal by the addition of some Arabian colour. Most composers have at some time or other composed a Suite, which includes the almost obligatory "Danse Orientale". The Russians are, in particular, especially fond of doing this and there are many examples, a good example being Glazounov's Suite charactérisque - Danse Orientale. As such, I have for a long time been on the look out for such music, not just by "sung" composers but also "unsung" composers. On occasion, I have discovered music by "sung" composers, which is far less known than other far more popular works. I wonder therefore if other members of the forum share my passion and would like to mention  those western/arabian works they particularly enjoy. By works, I mean examples of Western/Arabian music of a reasonable length, not just a "Danse orientale". My list includes works by Rimsky-Korsakov (Sheherazade of course), Khatchaturian and Glière but I particularly like the following : -

Glière Overture to the opera Shakh-Senem
Rabaud Marouf - cobbler of Cairo
Nielsen Suite from Aladdin
Ippolitov-Ivanov suite no 2 "Iveria"
Amirov symphonic mugams + Arabian Nights
Hovhannessian Marmar
Hovhaness any music from his Armenian period
Rimsky-Korsakov Sheherazade
Saint-Saens Bacchanale from Sampson and Delilah 

Interestingly, a lot of the exotic/arabian music comes from the world of ballet.

Do other members know of works that fill the above bill?

Cheers
Dennis

[thalbergmad]

Mixing West with a bit of East can produce some interesting results, and as you say, many composers have indulged in a little "oriental".

Whenever i think of this mixture of styles, i find myself drawn to the Sand dance by Wilson Keppel & Betty which was usually accompanied by Luigini's Ballet Egyptian.

Slightly off topic, but I find the Concerto on Hindustani Themes by Erik Chisholm to be a most engaging work. Did not like it on the first hearing, but it kind of grew on me.

Thal

[chill319]

Not sure if this is "Arabian" enough to qualify for this thread, but Arthur Foote's "Four Character Pieces after the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" uses that sort of once exotic sound. There's a recent recording on Naxos by the Seattle Symphony under Schwarz. Snippets on Amazon.

[Syrelius]

A few suggestions:

J M Kraus: Soliman II
K Atterberg: Alladdin ouverture
F David: Le Desert
A Biarent: Contes d'Orient

[John Hudock]

A few other thoughts:

Arensky: Egyptian Nights ballet
Balakirev: Islamey
Ron Goodwin: Arabian Celebration for orchestra

[DennisS]

Hello Thal, Chill 319, Syrelius and John

Many thanks for all the suggestions. I followed up on each one. The Atterberg, Arensky and Balakirev I already had. The David and Biarent are on my list of "To buy". I have not as yet found the Kraus and Wilson Keppel but am still looking. It's not easy easy finding works with just the right amount of arabian flavour which particularly appeals to me, so I do appreciate other members' recommendations. Thank you. If there are other suggestions, please keep them coming.
Cheers
Dennis

[Ilja]

Some other works that at least claim to inject 'Arabic' material:

Christian Hornemann - Aladdin Overture (1885) - great fun, by the way.
Alexander Glazunov - Oriental Rhapsody, Op. 29
Benjamin Godard - Symphonie Orientale
Louis-Etienne Reyer - Le Sélam, Symphonie Orientale
Erich Zeisl - 'Orientalische Liebesszene', from Pierrot in der Flasche

Of course, many operas are rife with them, such as Glinka's Ruslan & Liudmilla, and in the early 19th century there was an avalanche of 'Turkish' (true, not Arabian) material.

[John Hudock]

A bit off-forum (not classical unsung composers), but there is also quite of beautiful Arab/Persian/Turkish inspired jazz worth hearing. A few recommendations:

Anouar Brahem
Kayhan Khalor
Ghazal
Khaled

Some of John Zorn and John Surman have middle east flavors.

And more traditional:
Faramarz Payvar
Hossein Alizadeh

Also Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is always worth hearing as well, his more traditional stuff is wonderful and he just did a beautiful semi-classical style piece last year with several rock/pop stars (Linda Rondstadt, Alanis Morrisette), John Williams and the English Chamber orchestra called "The Prayer Cycle" which has a lot of middle eastern influences.

[M. Henriksen]

Have you heard the Danish composer Ludolf Nielsens ballet "Lakschmi" composed in 1922? Ok, the sub-title is "An Indian Love Tale" but there is a lot of orientalism in this work. Recorded by cpo (of course).

Morten

[M. Henriksen]

And another one: Ippolitov-Ivanov's Armenian Rhapsody, Op. 48. Nice little work recorded by both Marco Polo and Conifer I believe.

Morten

[Langtons Aunt]

If you fancy some Orientalist solo piano music you can try the six pieces from Reynaldo Hahn's Le Rossignol éperdu grouped together under the subtitle Orient. The recording I have is by Earl Wild, no less.