Soon the bustling Maslenitsa

The grand feast comes alive

The epigraph is taken from Vyazemsky's "Foreign Carnival" (1853).

Maslenitsa, the title, refers to a Russian folk ritual held for one week just before Great Lent, welcoming spring, and has been closely intertwined with Russian life since ancient times. At home, blini (a traditional dish similar to crepes) are baked, traditional foods are laid out, and young people celebrate boisterously. Outdoors, too, become lively with revelers; fairs, sideshows, peep shows, and even fistfights become the highlights of the town during this period.

The piece is in a compound ternary form with a shortened recapitulation. The main section is permeated throughout with the cheerfulness and joy of the festival. The bustling chords at the beginning are thought to imitate an accordion from a sideshow. In the F major middle section, although it becomes somewhat calmer, the use of chromaticism and the passages that appear to be in the middle register are full of humor.