There is often a raw and barbaric vigor in the sound of Russian folk music. In this characteristic tune, the minor mode coupled with a driving rhythmic beat may conjure various images, perhaps one of wild horses, rattling sabers and frozen tundra. In this imaginative setting the melody is first heard from afar, the snare drum and low register clarinets being barely audible. The riders gradually emerge as the music mounts in loudness and fury. Then, the climax having passed, men and horses slowly diminish into the distance until the mind's eye sees only a silent wasteland of white and the ear hears only the falling snow.
