Aram Khachaturian: the Sabre Dance, Spartacus, Masquerade and where to start

You have probably heard Khachaturian without knowing his name: in a film, a TV theme or a hockey arena. Here is who he was, the four pieces most people know, and the recordings to start with.

By The Armenly team. Written November 6, 2026.

Key findings

  • Aram Khachaturian was born in Tiflis (today Tbilisi) on June 6, 1903, died in Moscow on May 1, 1978, and is buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan. He is considered the most renowned Armenian composer of the 20th century [1].
  • The Sabre Dance, from his 1942 ballet "Gayane," is his most recognizable work worldwide. In 1948 it became a jukebox sensation in the United States and reached No. 11 on the US best-selling sheet music chart [2].
  • The "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia" was the opening theme of the British TV series "The Onedin Line" (1971–1980), and Gayane's Adagio is heard in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" [3] [4].
  • On Armenly, his most played recording is the Waltz from "Masquerade," at about 32 million Spotify plays (catalog read November 6, 2026).

Who Aram Khachaturian was

Khachaturian was born on June 6, 1903 (May 24 in the Old Style calendar) in Tiflis, the city where Sayat-Nova had lived two centuries earlier; he himself said he was born in nearby Kojori [1]. He became a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor who wove Armenian and, to a lesser extent, other Caucasian folk music into his work, and he is regarded in Armenia as a national treasure [1].

His first major work was the Piano Concerto of 1936, followed by the Violin Concerto in 1940, which won him a Stalin Prize, and the Cello Concerto in 1946 [1]. In 1944 he wrote the Anthem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic [1].

In 1948, with Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, he was officially denounced as a "formalist" and his music called "anti-people," but he was restored later that year [1]. He died in Moscow on May 1, 1978, and is buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan [1].

The Sabre Dance

It comes from "Gayane," a ballet he reworked from an earlier one, "Happiness," in 1942 [1]. "Gayane" won him a second Stalin Prize, first class [1]. The dance lasts about two and a half minutes [2]. Wikipedia's article on the dance places it in the final act, and its article on the ballet places it among the wedding dances of Act II, so the sources differ [2] [4].

In 1948 it took off in the United States: it became a jukebox sensation, Newsweek called it the "Khachaturian Year," and the sheet music reached No. 11 on the best-selling chart [2]. The Buffalo Sabres hockey team uses it as a theme [2].

The Adagio from Spartacus

Khachaturian wrote the ballet "Spartacus" in 1954, and it premiered at the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad on December 27, 1956. It won him the Lenin Prize in 1959 [3].

Its "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia," the love duet that opens the second suite, is the piece most people know: it was the love theme of the 1968 film "Mayerling," the opening theme of "The Onedin Line," and is heard in "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994) and "Ice Age: The Meltdown" (2006) [3]. The Armenian Philharmonic's recording with Loris Tjeknavorian is a good first listen.

Gayane's Adagio and "2001"

A slower piece from the third "Gayane" suite, the Adagio, plays in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." James Horner later quoted the same music in "Aliens," "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger" [4]. The same ballet's Lullaby is in our guide to Armenian lullabies.

The Masquerade Waltz

Khachaturian wrote music for a production of Mikhail Lermontov's play "Masquerade" and drew a concert suite from it; Wikipedia gives the suite as 1941 in one place and the stage music as 1944 in another [1]. Its Waltz is his most played recording on Armenly.

Piano pieces and the concertos

His piano Children's Album gives the second most played Khachaturian recording here, its Andantino, and "On a Birthday" from the same album is in our birthday songs guide. For the concertos, start with David Oistrakh's Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Where to listen

Questions people ask

Who wrote the Sabre Dance?

Aram Khachaturian, an Armenian composer. It is from his ballet "Gayane," finished in 1942, and became a hit in the United States in 1948.

Was Khachaturian Armenian?

Yes. He was an Armenian born in Tiflis (Tbilisi) in 1903, wove Armenian folk music into his work, wrote the anthem of Soviet Armenia, and is buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan.

What is the music from The Onedin Line?

The "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia," from Khachaturian's ballet "Spartacus." It was the show's opening theme from 1971 to 1980.

What Khachaturian music is in 2001: A Space Odyssey?

The Adagio from the third "Gayane" suite, a slow piece from the same ballet as the Sabre Dance.

What is Khachaturian's most famous piece?

Wikipedia calls the Sabre Dance his most recognizable work worldwide. On Armenly, the Masquerade Waltz has the most plays, then the Children's Album Andantino and the Spartacus Adagio.

Sources

Cite this page

The Armenly team, "Aram Khachaturian: the Sabre Dance, Spartacus, Masquerade and where to start." Armenly, November 6, 2026. https://armenly.com/guides/aram-khachaturian

Read next

Listen free

Loading Armenly