Ballet Masters of the 20th Century

[Brian]

I've just listened to Gabriel Pierne's "Cydalise" and have no hesitation putting it right alongside Ravel's "Daphnis" and Roussel's "Bacchus et Ariane." A total winner, gorgeous romantic excess mixed with neoclassical subject matter, wild 20th century orchestration, characterful French expressionism, two or three faux-medieval moments, a dash of Stravinsky and Ballets russes for seasoning, and a considerable harpsichord part during one of the set pieces. A big-hearted delight.

[MDL]

I'll probably be hung, drawn and quartered for mentioning such a derivative in this cosmopolitan company, but Vaughan Williams' Job is magnificent.

A few years ago, I was in the classical department of the late-lamented Virgin on Oxford Street. A magnificent orchestral tumult was pouring from the store's speakers and on closer inspection, I learnt it was RVW's Job. Well, I bought a copy immediately. It's strange; I was aware of Job, but for some reason, its subtitle, "A Masque for Dancing", had put me off; I expected something dainty, twee and a bit dull, like Stravinsky's Pulcinella, which is, well, you know, very nice and all that, but it isn't the Firebird or the Rite, is it?

Kudos for mentioning it.

[snyprrr]

Sorry, snyprrr, you've lost me.    Although I have spent the last few hours getting trolleyed in Shoreditch, so my powers of comprehension are waning. 

I keep coming back to Kraanerg, but I can't find a way in. I love many of Xenakis's works, so I don't think I have a problem with his sound world. But Kraanerg just hasn't grabbed me. Not yet. Must try harder.

I mean 'translate', as in Kraanerg,... there certainly is no sense of 'ballet', or really 'movement', especially not 'dance',... how can TOTALLY ABSTRACT MUSIC express anything like a person dancing? That's why I ask if ballet is moot to the Avant-Garde,... anything 'human' is moot?


I try to convince myself that I cooould listen to Kraanerg on a nice, sunny day, but it hasn't worked yet. Music for Coming Down Off a Giant Cocaine Binge, if you ask me, haha (it waaas written in, what '69, or '71?,... very much ugliness)!! Still, the cd with 26 Tracks is nice to dip into until such time.

[snyprrr]

It's no different than a number of his works .. a big monolithic blob with nothing really actively changeable or living in the details during the course of it.

ahhh,... Mr. Sunshine! Good morning!

[Mirror Image]

Vaughan Williams' Job is magnificent.

It really is, no doubt in my mind about it. It's also interesting as it was one of the first works I've actually heard by RVW outside of the symphony cycle. RVW reputedly disliked the word ballet, so which is why he used the subtitle A Masque for Dancing.

[Herman]

I'm curious what year dance got... 'strange'. Was it early in the '20s, or the '40s-'50s?

When Nijinsky took over from Fokine at the Ballets Russe and started choreographing, Jeux, the Sacre etc.

People really didn't understand what he was about.

[Herman]

Prokofiev

...well, ok, I'm not feigning senility here, but I have just drawn a total blank,... maybe I've just been listening to Le Sacre to much lately?

Prokofiev? Romeo & Juliet. Cinderella (ironically, the greatest British ballet of the 20th century in Fredrick Ashtons choreography), The Stone Flower and On the Dnieper.

Stravinsky and Prokofiev are the greatest ballet composers, easily at the level of Tchaikovksy's Sleeping Beauty, i.e. the highest possible level.

A lot of Ravel's music has been used for ballet, too, besides Daphnis & Chloe which was commissioned by Diaghilev.

Debussy's Jeux was a Diaghilev piece too, written for Nijinsky.

After that it all becomes much less interesting IMHO

It's really funny how ballet music is usually considered a lesser art form, and yet there are only a handful of really great ballet scores. Apperently it's not all that easy.

[jowcol]

Schmitt: La Tragedie de Salomé (highly recommended)

I'll second that recommendation....   

There's a lot of great suggestions here-- I would not overlook Prokofiev's Chout and Ginastera's Panambi.

[Mirror Image]

A few off the top of my head that I really enjoy:

Ravel:

Daphnis et Chloe
Ma Mere l'Oye
La Valse (whether its a true ballet is still up for debate, but Ravel's original intentions were for this to be a ballet)

Debussy:

Jeux
Khamma

Stravinsky:

The Firebird
Petrushka
The Rite of Spring
Les noces
Pulcinella
Apollo
The Fairy's Kiss
Jeu de cartes
Danses concertantes
Scenes de ballet
Orpheus
Agon

Shostakovich:

The Golden Age
The Bolt
The Limpid Stream

Prokofiev:

Romeo and Juliet
The Clout
The Prodigal Son
Cinderella

Bartok:

The Wooden Prince
The Miraculous Mandarin

Milhaud:

La creation du monde

Vaughan Williams:

Job: A Masque for Dancing

Copland:

Appalachian Spring

Ginastera:

Panambi
Estancia

Villa-Lobos:

Uirapuru
Amazonas
Genesis
Ruda
Emperor Jones

Revueltas:

La coronela

de Falla:

El amor brujo
Three-Corned Hat

Henze:

Ondine

Szymanowski:

Harnasie

[snyprrr]

When Nijinsky took over from Fokine at the Ballets Russe and started choreographing, Jeux, the Sacre etc.

People really didn't understand what he was about.

Ahhh, thanks!

[Mirror Image]

How could I forget Martinu

A list of Martinu's ballets:

-Noc (Night), ballet in 1 act, H. 89 (1914 Polička)
-Tance se závoji (Dances with a Veils), meloplastic dance scenes, H. 93 (1914 Polička)
-Stín (The Shadow), ballet in 1 act, H. 102 (1916 Polička)
-Koleda (Christmas Carol), ballet in 4 acts with singing, dancing and recitation, H. 112 (1917 Polička)
-Istar, ballet in 3 acts, H. 130 (1921 Polička, Prague)
-Kdo je na světě nejmocnější? (Who is the Most Powerful in the World?), ballet comedy in 1 act, H. 133 (1922 Prague)
-Vzpoura (The Revolt), ballet sketch in 1 act, H. 151 (1925 Paris, Prague)
-Motýl, který dupal (The Butterfly that Stamped), ballet in 1 act, H. 153 (1926 Paris)
-Le Raid merveilleux (The Amazing Flight), a mechanical ballet, H. 159 (1927 Paris)
-La Revue de Cuisine (The Kitchen Revue), jazz-ballet in 1 act, H. 161 (1927 Paris)
-On Tourne, ballet in 1 act, H. 163 (1927 Polička)
-Check to the King, jazz-ballet in 2 act, H. 186 (1930 Paris)
-Špalíček (The Chap-Book), ballet with singing in 3 acts, H. 214 (1932 Paris)
-Le jugement de Paris (The judgement of Paris), ballet in 1 act, H. 245 (1935 Paris)
-The Strangler, ballet for three dancers, H. 317 (1948 New York)

[Lethevich]

Špalíček (The Chap-Book), ballet with singing in 3 acts, H. 214 (1932 Paris)

This one is super - I somehow hadn't considered it as a ballet before now, not sure what exactly I did think it was

I should give Revue de Cuisine another go - I recall it being nice if a little unsubstantial, but can't remember a note...

[Mirror Image]

This one is super - I somehow hadn't considered it as a ballet before now, not sure what exactly I did think it was

I should give Revue de Cuisine another go - I recall it being nice if a little unsubstantial, but can't remember a note...

Yes, it is a ballet with vocals. Kind of Stravinsky's Les noches and Pulcinella have vocals or even Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe with its wordless choir.

Revue de Cuisine is excellent. Both of Hogwood recordings of this work (Decca, Supraphon) are well performed. Le Raid merveilleux, La Revue de Cuisine, and On Tourne are all notable for their Stravinskian usage of smaller, chamber-sized ensembles to perform the music. Great stuff!

[snyprrr]

Since I've been exploring his output since his death in late-2007 i'll add something  .. from what i've read there is a choreographed visual component (movement,gesture,dress,dance,positioning) to many of his works particularly from the 70s onward, most of it to correspond to the music itself and/or the character or theme of the music .. much of it influenced from Japan, like Noh-theatre and stuff like that .. when I get time, i'll try to dig up a little stuff on this and put it into the forums official Stockhausen thread at a later date .. his approach to the visual dimension & the actual presentation of his works was something that he put a lot of thought into as well. A complete presentation. Off the top of my head works like Harlekin, Inori, Der Jahreslauf, and of course .. a staged Licht all have dance.

This is kind of what I was alluding to with the 'abstract' idea with the term 'ballet'. I mean, once Dance broke down with everything else in the 20th C., how can you then GO BACK, using traditional 'ballet' moves and such?,... it would be like Ligeti writing a straight Mozartean piece, with no Post Modern irony,... what's the point? No one's writing music that sounds like Tchaikovsky anyhow.

So, I'm saying, that the fact that KS wants to be his own choreographer and costume designer and so forth (Bussotti) seems simply like the natural 'auteur' idea,... why wouldn't everyone be doing this? Why are,... ahem... 'Composers' in school today just taught Music? It seems strange that Composers who go 'overboard' in the control department are so few like that,... I would think most all Composers would 'be' like that.

I mean, at this point,...'ballet' is what 'I' say it is, no? Wouldn't that be the proper post-Cagean way of looking at it (troll alert!!)? So then, why isn't Licht an 'BalletOpera', or whatever it is we call the 'Kitchen Sink' these days,... I guess it's still Opera. I guess they don't normally dance in Opera?

Was dance swallowed whole by 'Performance Art'?

Modern Music is so Inward Looking, it's not your father's 'Devil's Music'. A Modern 'Salome' stands a good chance of being totally bleached of any 'human' aspect at all,... the protagonists could be insects after all!! Of course, it could be a Live Sex Show, too.

I get the feeling that the Serialists would think that 'dancing' was beneath them,... all is rational thought now. Anyhow, I'm hoping you all have interesting thoughts to add here.

[snyprrr]

How could I forget Martinu

A list of Martinu's ballets:

-Noc (Night), ballet in 1 act, H. 89 (1914 Polička)
-Tance se závoji (Dances with a Veils), meloplastic dance scenes, H. 93 (1914 Polička)
-Stín (The Shadow), ballet in 1 act, H. 102 (1916 Polička)
-Koleda (Christmas Carol), ballet in 4 acts with singing, dancing and recitation, H. 112 (1917 Polička)
-Istar, ballet in 3 acts, H. 130 (1921 Polička, Prague)
-Kdo je na světě nejmocnější? (Who is the Most Powerful in the World?), ballet comedy in 1 act, H. 133 (1922 Prague)
-Vzpoura (The Revolt), ballet sketch in 1 act, H. 151 (1925 Paris, Prague)
-Motýl, který dupal (The Butterfly that Stamped), ballet in 1 act, H. 153 (1926 Paris)
-Le Raid merveilleux (The Amazing Flight), a mechanical ballet, H. 159 (1927 Paris)
-La Revue de Cuisine (The Kitchen Revue), jazz-ballet in 1 act, H. 161 (1927 Paris)
-On Tourne, ballet in 1 act, H. 163 (1927 Polička)
-Check to the King, jazz-ballet in 2 act, H. 186 (1930 Paris)
-Špalíček (The Chap-Book), ballet with singing in 3 acts, H. 214 (1932 Paris)
-Le jugement de Paris (The judgement of Paris), ballet in 1 act, H. 245 (1935 Paris)
-The Strangler, ballet for three dancers, H. 317 (1948 New York)

'Neo-Classicism' was just Stravinsky's 'Martinu phase', haha!! Yea, between Ballet and Opera, Martinu's got the market cornered! Your other list reads like it should be the First Post. That's what I was looking for there. A lot of that stuff has just passed through me like space waves,... there but undetected. I would be interested in The Stone Flower.

Rule #1: Ballet Music MUST be 'Magical'

[Mirror Image]

'Neo-Classicism' was just Stravinsky's 'Martinu phase', haha!! Yea, between Ballet and Opera, Martinu's got the market cornered! Your other list reads like it should be the First Post. That's what I was looking for there. A lot of that stuff has just passed through me like space waves,... there but undetected. I would be interested in The Stone Flower.

Rule #1: Ballet Music MUST be 'Magical'

I hope you explore all of the ballets I mentioned in my non-Martinu list. I seriously doubt all of Martinu's ballets have even been recorded. Only time will tell I suppose. The first time I heard Symanowski's Harnasie was on the Sirius radio about four years ago and I remember I was eating something and I about choked as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was just an except from Simon Rattle's recording, but I remember saying I've got to get more of this composer's music.

[Herman]

This is kind of what I was alluding to with the 'abstract' idea with the term 'ballet'. I mean, once Dance broke down with everything else in the 20th C., how can you then GO BACK, using traditional 'ballet' moves and such?,... it would be like Ligeti writing a straight Mozartean piece, with no Post Modern irony,... what's the point? No one's writing music that sounds like Tchaikovsky anyhow.

Clearly you've never even been close to a ballet performance. Why you feel the need to make these big statements without any real contact with the art form baffles me.

Fairly recently a big book was published, Jennifer Homans' Apollo's Angels, A History of Ballet. It's available.

The biggest modern choreographer was Balanchine, who worked from the mid-thirties untill 1980, mostly in New York. His dance moves are 90% based on the dance vocabulary used in the original Sleeping Beauty of 1890. Balanchine used a lot of Tchaikovsky music, even in the 1970s. Behind the Iron Curtain, same story, except Stalin asked for big male jumps etc as an expression of Soviet masculinity. There have been great Modern Dance choreographers who use classical ballet training as their basis, but perform in a different style. Like Nijinsky.

Right now, thirty years after Balanchine's demise there are three internationally successful young choreographers: Alexei Ratmansky, Benjamin Millepied (yes, him) and Christopher Wheeldon. None of these reject the classical vocabulary. Nor are they averse to using 'traditional' ballet music.


[/quote]

[DieNacht]

Have been digging a few more from my collection:

- Hindemith: Der Dämon (the old candide recording with Grüber is the better one)

- Zemlinsky: Ein Tanzpoem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkVq6RQT71M

- Schreker: Der Geburtstag der Infantin (made in collaboration with some of the important personalities of the day)
- Poul Schierbeck: Natten / The Night f.Piano & Orchestra
- Jaroslav Jezek: Nerves (he was a highly talented composer who wrote too little)
- Antheil: Capital of the World (contains some great flamenco music, especially in the old Joseph Levine/capitol recording)
- Raffaello de Banfield: The Combat (the old Joseph Levine/capitol recording quite good !)
- Vitezlav Novak: Signorina Gioventu
- Nørgård: Den Unge Mand Skal Giftes
- Moses Pergament: Krelantens och Eldeling
- Constant Lambert: Horoscope

- Valeri Gavrilin: Anyuta (considered a masterpiece by some)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkpKJ7440Dc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXsHFLzbNF4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdnWuygrTb4&playnext=1&list=PL454D09429DE62FB3

[snyprrr]

It seems I'm the only one who mentioned Hindemith's The Four Temperaments. I consider this right alongside Apollo and Orpheus in 'cool' Neo-Classical tone. This is the 'sound' that I'd like to hear more examples of,... is there aaanything 'cooler' than Apollo??

[Guido]

As was his wont, Barber contributed but one work to this genre, but it's a corker - one of his best: Medea