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MAURICE RAVEL
Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe (1909–12)

From 1909 until his death in 1929, the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev ruled over one of the most scintillating dance troupes in history, the Ballets Russes. This was a vast theatrical enterprise encompassing dancers, choreographers, composers, painters, conductors, and orchestras. It exercised an extraordinary hold over artistic imagination throughout Europe and in America from that very first season. As the poet Anna de Noailles exclaimed upon attending the troupe’s first performance in Paris, “It was as if Creation, having stopped on the seventh day, now all of a sudden resumed. … Something new in the world of the arts … the phenomenon of the Ballets Russes.” For 20 years a commission from Diaghilev had the power to make a composer famous.

Diaghilev wasted no time in commissioning music from leading French composers of the period, including Maurice Ravel. In 1909 he introduced Ravel, then widely considered the most avant-garde composer in France, to the innovative Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine. Five years earlier Fokine had produced a scenario for Daphnis and Chloe, a “Greek ballet” based on a pastoral romance by the Classical author Longus. Fokine’s scenario was the basis for his discussions with Ravel, who was also fascinated by Classical antiquity. Neither choreographer nor composer spoke each other’s language, so an interpreter had to be present. As Ravel wrote to a friend in June 1909, “Fokine doesn’t know a word of French, and I only know how to swear in Russian.”

As it turned out, this was just the beginning of a process that lasted for years. A fastidious craftsman, Ravel composed the music for Daphnis and Chloe with painstaking care, which meant that the premiere had to be postponed several times. The work finally went into rehearsal in 1912. The sumptuous designs for the sets and costumes were by Leon Bakst, who had been the interpreter for the initial meetings between Fokine and Ravel. Diaghilev, exasperated by the delays, scheduled the premiere at the very end of the season on June 8, 1912. His decision caused the ballet to be initially underestimated by both critics and audiences; as originally conceived by Fokine and Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe has no place in today’s dance repertory. Ravel’s music, however, has long outlived this star-crossed production, assuming a lasting place in the orchestral canon.

Igor Stravinsky rightly lauded Daphnis and Chloe as “one of the most beautiful products in all of French music.” Ravel uses a large orchestra as well as a wordless chorus that is woven into the sonorous tapestry to conjure up a succession of colors and moods. Ravel insisted, however, that Daphnis was more than just a collection of orchestral effects. He delineates the action clearly by adapting Wagner’s technique of leitmotifs to identify characters and situations. Thus the Introduction sets out the main motifs—including the ardent theme that represents the love between Daphnis and Chloe—that will be developed over the course of the score.

The complete ballet unfolds in three scenes. After the Introduction, the Religious Dance presents the eponymous protagonists. A General Dance for the assembled shepherds follows, and then the uncouth Dorcon makes a pass at Chloe in his Grotesque Dance; Daphnis responds with a Light and Gracious Dance. A femme fatale, Lycéion, then seeks to attract Daphnis’s attention, but he proves indifferent to her slinky charms. Suddenly, pirates enter chasing the women and abducting Chloe. Horrified, Daphnis runs off to rescue her and swoons in despair upon discovering one of her sandals. Three stone nymphs that adorn a nearby altar to Pan descend from their pedestals and invoke the god with a Slow and Mysterious Dance.

The second part of the ballet is set in the pirates’ camp. They perform a wild War Dance. In a Suppliant Dance, Chloe tries unsuccessfully to escape. Suddenly, uncanny light falls across the stage and the menacing silhouette of Pan is seen against the landscape. The terrified pirates flee, leaving Chloe alone in the gathering darkness.

Ravel fashioned two suites from the ballet, of which we hear the more popular second today, which consists of the third scene. It opens with an orchestral evocation of dawn during which the lovers are reunited. In gratitude to Pan, Daphnis and Chloe mime the story of his pursuit of the nymph Syrinx that resulted in the creation of the panpipes. Young men and women enter slapping tambourines and the entire company dances an orgiastic Bacchanal.

—Byron Adams

Program note © 2023. All rights reserved. Program note may not be reprinted without written permission from A. Kori Hill and/or The Philadelphia Orchestra Association.

MAURICE RAVEL
Suite No. 2 from Daphnis and Chloe (1909–12)

From 1909 until his death in 1929, the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev ruled over one of the most scintillating dance troupes in history, the Ballets Russes. This was a vast theatrical enterprise encompassing dancers, choreographers, composers, painters, conductors, and orchestras. It exercised an extraordinary hold over artistic imagination throughout Europe and in America from that very first season. As the poet Anna de Noailles exclaimed upon attending the troupe’s first performance in Paris, “It was as if Creation, having stopped on the seventh day, now all of a sudden resumed. … Something new in the world of the arts … the phenomenon of the Ballets Russes.” For 20 years a commission from Diaghilev had the power to make a composer famous.

Diaghilev wasted no time in commissioning music from leading French composers of the period, including Maurice Ravel. In 1909 he introduced Ravel, then widely considered the most avant-garde composer in France, to the innovative Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine. Five years earlier Fokine had produced a scenario for Daphnis and Chloe, a “Greek ballet” based on a pastoral romance by the Classical author Longus. Fokine’s scenario was the basis for his discussions with Ravel, who was also fascinated by Classical antiquity. Neither choreographer nor composer spoke each other’s language, so an interpreter had to be present. As Ravel wrote to a friend in June 1909, “Fokine doesn’t know a word of French, and I only know how to swear in Russian.”

As it turned out, this was just the beginning of a process that lasted for years. A fastidious craftsman, Ravel composed the music for Daphnis and Chloe with painstaking care, which meant that the premiere had to be postponed several times. The work finally went into rehearsal in 1912. The sumptuous designs for the sets and costumes were by Leon Bakst, who had been the interpreter for the initial meetings between Fokine and Ravel. Diaghilev, exasperated by the delays, scheduled the premiere at the very end of the season on June 8, 1912. His decision caused the ballet to be initially underestimated by both critics and audiences; as originally conceived by Fokine and Ravel, Daphnis and Chloe has no place in today’s dance repertory. Ravel’s music, however, has long outlived this star-crossed production, assuming a lasting place in the orchestral canon.

Igor Stravinsky rightly lauded Daphnis and Chloe as “one of the most beautiful products in all of French music.” Ravel uses a large orchestra as well as a wordless chorus that is woven into the sonorous tapestry to conjure up a succession of colors and moods. Ravel insisted, however, that Daphnis was more than just a collection of orchestral effects. He delineates the action clearly by adapting Wagner’s technique of leitmotifs to identify characters and situations. Thus the Introduction sets out the main motifs—including the ardent theme that represents the love between Daphnis and Chloe—that will be developed over the course of the score.

The complete ballet unfolds in three scenes. After the Introduction, the Religious Dance presents the eponymous protagonists. A General Dance for the assembled shepherds follows, and then the uncouth Dorcon makes a pass at Chloe in his Grotesque Dance; Daphnis responds with a Light and Gracious Dance. A femme fatale, Lycéion, then seeks to attract Daphnis’s attention, but he proves indifferent to her slinky charms. Suddenly, pirates enter chasing the women and abducting Chloe. Horrified, Daphnis runs off to rescue her and swoons in despair upon discovering one of her sandals. Three stone nymphs that adorn a nearby altar to Pan descend from their pedestals and invoke the god with a Slow and Mysterious Dance.

The second part of the ballet is set in the pirates’ camp. They perform a wild War Dance. In a Suppliant Dance, Chloe tries unsuccessfully to escape. Suddenly, uncanny light falls across the stage and the menacing silhouette of Pan is seen against the landscape. The terrified pirates flee, leaving Chloe alone in the gathering darkness.

Ravel fashioned two suites from the ballet, of which we hear the more popular second today, which consists of the third scene. It opens with an orchestral evocation of dawn during which the lovers are reunited. In gratitude to Pan, Daphnis and Chloe mime the story of his pursuit of the nymph Syrinx that resulted in the creation of the panpipes. Young men and women enter slapping tambourines and the entire company dances an orgiastic Bacchanal.

—Byron Adams

Program note © 2023. All rights reserved. Program note may not be reprinted without written permission from A. Kori Hill and/or The Philadelphia Orchestra Association.