Ravel - Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2
Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes (2nd doubles piccolo), alto flute, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, Eb clarinet, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, snare drum, military drum, tambourine, castanets, jeu de timbres à clavier, 2 harps, celesta, strings
Duration: 18 minutes in three movements.
THE COMPOSER – MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) – Ravel had already begun to shift his focus to theatrical endeavors when the famed Impresario Serge Diaghilev commissioned him to compose Daphnis et Chloé for the Ballet Russes in 1909. Ravel also met Igor Stravinsky during this period and the two became quite close, sharing ideas about composition and collaborating on orchestrations for Diaghilev while their individual projects for the Ballet Russes percolated.
THE MUSIC – It took Ravel three years to complete Daphnis et Chloé and the 1912 premiere had a few things working against it. Not the least of which was the difference of conception between composer and choreographer (Fokine) that haunted the entire creative process and probably had a lot to do with the longish timeline. The premiere was also under-rehearsed and likely frustrated by the unavoidable comparisons to the shocking Debussy/Nijinsky Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun from less than two weeks before and the Stravinsky/Fokine Petrushka from exactly a year before. Among peers of this sort, only a fully committed and perfectly prepared product could have any hope of reward. With the world-altering premiere of The Rite of Spring just a year hence at that point, Ravel’s piece seemed destined to be remembered somewhat mildly by history. Though not successful as a full-scale ballet, the lushly evocative music from Daphnis et Chloé was truly among the finest orchestral writing of Ravel’s career and the piece lives on in the concert hall today thanks to the pair of suites he extracted from the score in 1913. Suite No. 2 includes the final three numbers from the ballet in which the protagonists are re-united at daybreak. In appreciation of Pan, whose actions made the meeting possible, the couple pantomimes a story of the god and his beloved nymph Syrinx. Before long the celebration reaches a climax and a general Bacchanalian dance ensues.
THE WORLD – Charlie Chaplin began his motion picture career in 1913. Also that year, Arthur Wynne invented the crossword puzzle, Ludwig III was crowned as the last king of Bavaria and Japan’s last Shogun died in retirement at the age of 75.
THE CONNECTION – Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 was last performed on the Utah Symphony Masterworks Series back in 2007 under the baton of Pavel Kogan.
Ravel - Mother Goose Suite - Ma Mère l’Oye
Ma Mère l’Oye: Five pièces enfantines (Mother Goose Suite)
Instrumentation: 2 flutes (2nd doubles piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubles English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons (2nd doubles contrabassoon), 2 horns, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tam-tam, xylophone, jeu de timbres à clavier, harp, celesta, strings
Duration: 16 minutes in five movements.
THE COMPOSER – MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) – Ravel’s frustration with the shunning he received from the Parisian musical establishment – namely the magisterial Société Nationale de Musique and the priestly elite of the Schola Cantorum – fueled his leading role in the creation of the Société Musicale Indépéndantes. The new group was founded with an open, Foreign-friendly ethic that expressly flouted the stodgy authority of the Schola. Their inaugural concert took place in 1910.
THE MUSIC – In addition to new works by Faure and Debussy, the program included the premiere performance of Ravel’s five movement suite for piano 4-hands, Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose). Drawing on the fairy tales of Charles Perrault and others, each miniature is a touching musical representation of childlike wonder. Fittingly, the suite is both dedicated to children and composed for them to perform. The Polish ex-pat artist Cipa Godebski was a great friend to the Ravels and Maurice was quite close with his family, eventually dedicating his Sonatine to Cipa and his wife Ida. The Mother Goose dedication came just a few years later, but this time for the Godebski’s young children, Mimie and Jean. Ravel was hopeful that the two budding pianists would perform the premiere on the Société Musicale Indépéndantes concert but the pressure of the event was reportedly too much for them. The honor instead fell to Jeanne Leleu and Geneviève Durony who, if less nervous, where also very young and perfectly suited to Ravel’s intentions for the piece. The premiere was very well-received and demand came quickly for an orchestration. Ravel obliged in 1911, creating the version we know best today, but he also later expanded the music into a ballet on a commission from Jacques Roché and the Théâtre des Arts. Ravel himself devised the ballet scenario, using Sleeping Beauty as the centerpiece and working the other stories in by way of her dreams.
THE WORLD – Halley’s Comet appeared in 1910. In the United States, the original “Great White Hope” James Jeffries lost his heavyweight boxing title bid to Jack Johnson. King Edward VII died in England and Egyptian Prime Minister Boutros Ghali was assassinated.
THE CONNECTION – Though performed as recently as 2009 under Emmanuel Villaume, Mother Goose Suite is infrequently programmed on the Utah Symphony Masterworks. It appears more regularly on our other series.
