Islamey

Balakirev, a committed nationalist whose music was influenced by Russian traditions, was inspired to write the piece after a trip to the Caucasus, as he relates in a letter:

Since I interested myself in the vocal music there, I made the acquaintance of a Circassian prince, who frequently came to me and played folk tunes on his instrument, that was something like a violin.

(Letter to Eduard Reiss (1851–1911), 1892)The piece was composed in the course of one month in 1869, in stark contrast to Balakirev's usual habit of taking sometimes years to complete a work.

In addition, Alexander Scriabin seriously damaged his right hand fanatically practicing the piece along with Liszt's Réminiscences de Don Juan, though the injury eventually healed.

Notable recordings include: Simon Barere (1947, APR), Vladimir Horowitz (1950, Sony/BMG), Emil Gilels (1951, DOREMI), Julius Katchen (1958, Decca), György Cziffra (1957 & 1970, EMI), Boris Berezovsky (1996, Teldec) and Mikhail Pletnev (2000, DG).