I find that piece electrifying. Wonderful stuff! Thank you, Aram Khachaturian.
After a stay in Yerevan in 1939, Khachaturian composed the ballet Schast 'ye ("Happiness"). Using material from this ballet, Khachaturian radically rewrote it, thereby creating the Gayane Ballet in 1942 in Molotov. After completing the Gayane Ballet score, Khachaturian wrote the "Dance of the Kurds" at the request of the Kirov Theater who was producing the ballet. "Dance of the Kurds" later became known as the "Sabre Dance."
Gayane Ballet is based on the story of a heroine named Gayane. The setting for the play is on a cotton co-operative farm in Armenia. Gayane is married to a drunk layabout named Giko, who maltreats her. Gayane denounces her husband and the Red Army eventually arrests Giko. Giko is then found and proven guilty of being an incendiary and is later imprisoned. Because of this, Gayane could then end her marriage with Giko. She later marries Kasakov, the chairman of the co-operation. Their wedding provides the happy ending, the climax of which is the "Sabre Dance."