''Khamma'' ("légende dansée") is music by

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

originally intended for a ballet. It was composed in 1911–13, commissioned for the Canadian dancer

Maud Allan Maud Allan (born as either Beulah Maude Durrant or Ulah Maud Alma Durrant;Birthname given as Ulah Maud Alma DurrantMcConnell, Virginia A. ''Sympathy for the Devil: The Emmanuel Baptist Murders of Old San Francisco'', University of Nebraska Pr ...

, who was co-author of a scenario set in

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. Debussy came to regret accepting the commission – he found Allan "a detestable woman" – and failed to complete the composition. The score was orchestrated and completed by

Charles Koechlin Charles-Louis-Eugène Koechlin (; 27 November 186731 December 1950), commonly known as Charles Koechlin, was a French composer, teacher and musicologist. Among his better known works is '' Les Heures persanes'', a set of piano pieces based on th ...

in January 1913.Anderson, Keith (2010). Notes to Naxos CD 8.572297 The work was not performed in Debussy's lifetime. It was first heard in a concert performance in 1924 at the

Concerts Colonne The Colonne Orchestra is a French symphony orchestra, founded in 1873 by the violinist and conductor Édouard Colonne. History While leader of the Opéra de Paris orchestra, Édouard Colonne was engaged by the publisher Georges Hartmann to lead ...

in Paris, under the direction of

Gabriel Pierné Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. Biography Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Germ ...

. The staged ballet, which was originally to be called ''Isis'', was first seen in 1947 at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...

. ''Khamma'' is set in Egypt, in the Temple of the Great God

Amun-Ra Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, rema ...

in a town under siege. A young woman, Khamma, dances in front of the statue of the god to implore his aid for the town. After three dances she sees the statue move its head and arms, and ecstatically she dances wildly until a terrific flash of lightning and thunder at which Khamma dies. In the final scene the victorious defenders of the town find her body and lament. A concert suite follows the three dances of the second stage of the ballet. All the music is by Debussy, orchestrated by Koechlin. *First dance: Sarabande *Second dance *Third dance The writer Jean-Pascal Vachon writes that the work is uneven and austere, with muted orchestral colours and the dominance of the lower register, but is typical of late Debussy, with possible echoes of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

’s ''

Petrushka Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. It was first introduced by traveling Italian performers in the first third of the 19th century during a period of W ...

'' (1911) and pre-echoes of his own ''

Jeux ''Jeux'' (''Games'') is a ballet written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" (literally a "danced poem"), it was written for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to th ...

'' (1913) in its textures and rhythmic organisation.Vachon, Jean-Pascal (2016). Notes to BIS CD BIS-2162

Notes

Ballets by Claude Debussy 1947 ballets {{Ballet-stub