''The Wedding'', or ''Svadebka (''), is a Russian-language
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
-
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
by
Igor 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 20th-century c ...
scored unusually for four vocal soloists, chorus, percussion and four pianos. Dedicating the work to impresario
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...
, the composer described it in French as "choreographed Russian scenes with singing and music"
ic and it remains known by its French name of ''Les noces'' despite being Russian.
''The Wedding'' was completed in 1917 but was then subjected to a series of changes of heart by Stravinsky regarding its scoring; he settled on the above forces only in 1923, in time for the premiere in Paris on 13 June that year under conductor
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor.
Biography
Anserme ...
and danced by the
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...
to choreography by
Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska (; ; ; ; – February 21, 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers.
Her own career began in Saint Petersburg. Soon ...
.
Several versions of the score have been performed over the years, substituting an orchestra for the percussion and pianos or using
pianolas in accordance with a version Stravinsky abandoned.
Composition
Stravinsky conceived of ''The Wedding'' in 1913. By October 1917 he had completed it in
short score
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed books or pamphlets in English, Arab ...
to a
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
he himself had written using Russian wedding lyrics taken mainly from songs collected by
Pyotr Kireevsky and published in 1911.
During this long gestation its orchestration changed dramatically. Stravinsky at first planned to use forces similar to those of ''
The Rite of Spring
''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...
''. A later idea was to use synchronised roll-operated instruments, including the
pianola; this he abandoned when partially completed because the Paris firm of
Pleyel et Cie was late in constructing the two-keyboard
cimbalom
The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...
s, later known as
luthéal
The luthéal is a kind of hybrid piano which extended the "register" possibilities of a piano by producing cimbalom-like sounds in some registers, exploiting harmonics of the strings when pulling other register-stops, and also some registers maki ...
s, he required.
Stravinsky settled only in 1923, six years after his short score, on the following forces: soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass vocal soloists; mixed chorus;
unpitched percussion
An unpitched percussion instrument is a percussion instrument played in such a way as to produce sounds of indeterminate pitch, or an instrument normally played in this fashion.
Unpitched percussion is typically used to maintain a rhythm or to ...
; and
pitched percussion
A pitched percussion instrument (also known as a melodic or tuned percussion instrument) is a percussion instrument used to produce musical notes of one or more pitches, as opposed to an unpitched percussion instrument which is used to produc ...
, notably four pianos. The decision exemplified his growing penchant for stripped down, clear and mechanistic sound-groups in the decade after ''The Rite'' (although he was never again to produce such an extreme sonic effect solely with percussion).
He reminisced in 1962: "When I first played ''The Wedding'' to
Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario a ...
… he wept and said it was the most beautiful and most purely Russian creation of our
allet company I think he did love ''The Wedding'' more than any other work of mine. That is why it is dedicated to him."
Structure
The ballet-cantata has four
scenes performed without a break:
:
Performances
The work was premiered on 13 June 1923 at the
Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris, by the
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...
with choreography by
Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska (; ; ; ; – February 21, 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers.
Her own career began in Saint Petersburg. Soon ...
. The instrumental ensemble of four pianos and percussion was conducted by
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor.
Biography
Anserme ...
. The work is usually performed in Russian or French; English translations are sometimes used, and Stravinsky used the English one on the recordings he conducted for Columbia Records in 1934 and 1959.
At the London premiere on 14 June 1926 at
His Majesty's Theatre, the piano parts were played by composers
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...
,
Georges Auric
Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 h ...
,
Vittorio Rieti
Vittorio Rieti (28 January 1898 – 19 February 1994) was an Italian and American composer.
Biography
Rieti was born to a family of Jewish descent in Alexandria, Kingdom of Egypt. He later moved to Milan to study economics. Subsequently, he stud ...
and
Vernon Duke
Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for " Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), "I ...
. When Stravinsky conducted a recording using the English libretto in 1959, the four pianists were composers
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...
,
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
,
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor.
Career
Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...
, and
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...
. At a revival of the ballet in London's
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
on 23 March 1962, four composers –
John Gardner,
Malcolm Williamson
Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson, (21 November 19312 March 2003) was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death. According to ''Grove Music Online'', although Williamson's earlier co ...
,
Richard Rodney Bennett
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique ...
and
Edmund Rubbra
Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak o ...
– played the piano parts.
The premiere of the 1919 version of ''Les Noces'', with
cimbalom
The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...
s,
harmonium
The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...
, and pianola, took place in 1981 in Paris, conducted by
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music.
Born in Montb ...
.
The
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
commissioned an arrangement by
Steven Stucky
Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer.
Life and career
Steven Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager ...
for symphony orchestra and premiered it under the baton of
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
on May 29, 2008, at
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...
. The arrangement retains Stravinsky's percussion parts while replacing the four pianos with a large orchestra.
The version including pianola that Stravinsky left unfinished was completed with permission from Stravinsky's heirs by the Dutch composer
Theo Verbey
Theo Verbey (5 July 1959 – 13 October 2019) was a Dutch people, Dutch composer. His style could be considered to be associated with Postmodern music. Verbey was also orchestrated Alban Berg's Piano Sonata (Berg), Piano Sonata, Op. 1 in 1984 w ...
and performed in the Netherlands in 2009.
A new version of ''Les noces'' was performed by the
English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scott ...
at
Sadler's Wells
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...
in September 2023, choreographed by Andrea Miller.
Critical reception and legacy
''Les Noces'' received a mixed reception to its early performances. While its premiere in Paris in 1923 was welcomed with enthusiasm, the London performance three years later received such a negative response from critics that, according to Eric Walter White, "The virulence of this attack so exasperated
he novelistH. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
that on June 18, 1926, he wrote an open letter." Wells' letter, quoted by White, said: "I do not know of any other ballet so interesting, so amusing, so fresh or nearly so exciting as ''Les Noces''... That ballet is a rendering in sound and vision of the peasant soul, in its gravity, in its deliberate and simple-minded intricacy, in its subtly varied rhythms and deep undercurrents of excitement, that will astonish and delight every intelligent man or woman who goes to see it."
The pious reaction of Soviet critics such as
Tikhon Khrennikov
Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also known for his political activities. He wrote three symphonies, f ...
was no surprise: "In ''Petrushka'' and ''Les Noces'' Stravinsky, with Diaghilev's blessing, uses Russian folk customs in order to mock at them in the interests of European audiences, which he does by emphasizing Asiatic primitivism, coarseness, and animal instincts, and deliberately introducing sexual motives. Ancient folk melodies are intentionally distorted as if seen in a crooked mirror." However, in 1929,
Boris Asafyev
Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev (27 January 1949; also known by pseudonym Igor Glebov) was a Russian and Soviet composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic and one of founders of Soviet musicology. He is the dedicatee of Prokofiev's First Symp ...
, a musicologist less inclined to stick to the "
party line" made a shrewd prediction: "The young generation will find in the score of ''Noces'' an inexhaustible fountain of music and of new methods of musical formulation – a veritable primer of technical mastery."
The passage of time has indeed shown ''Les Noces'' to be one of Stravinsky's finest and most original achievements. Writing in 1988,
Stephen Walsh said, "Although others among Stravinsky's theatre works have enjoyed greater prestige … ''The Wedding'' is in many respects the most radical, the most original and conceivably the greatest of them all."
Howard Goodall
Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was name ...
has pointed out the influence of the distinctive sonorities of ''Les Noces'': "To other composers, though, as they gradually came across ''Les Noces'', its peculiar faux-primitive, fierce sound proved irresistible... The sound world of ''Les Noces'' is, quite simply, the most imitated of all twentieth-century combinations outside the fields of jazz and popular music." Goodall lists composers that have fallen under its influence such as
Orff,
Bartók,
Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...
and many others, including film composers.
In her memoir of working as Stravinsky's agent during the final decade of his life, Lilian Libman recalls the composer's particular fondness for the work: "Still, did he have a favorite as a father has a favorite son?... I think it was ''Les Noces''... It drew him, it would seem, as no other work of his had done. During the time I knew him, the mention of ''Les Noces'' never failed to produce the same smile with which he greeted those for whom he felt great affection."
Notable recordings
* A 1934 recording conducted by Stravinsky using the English libretto has been reissued on CD by EMI as part of their "Composers in Person" series.
* Stravinsky conducted a second recording, also in English, in 1959, with soloists Mildred Allen (s); Regina Sarfaty (m-s); Loren Driscoll (t); Robert Oliver (b); American Concert Choir; pianists
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...
,
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
,
Lukas Foss
Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor.
Career
Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...
,
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, a ...
; Columbia Percussion Ensemble; re-issued by Sony Classical in 2016.
*
Robert Craft
Robert Lawson Craft (October 20, 1923 – November 10, 2015) was an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate professional relationship with Igor Stravinsky, on which Craft drew in producing numerous recordings and books.
...
recorded the early versions of ''Les Noces'' in the early 1970s on a Columbia LP, with pianos instead of pianolas.
*
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
's recommended recording is that made in 1990 by the Voronezh Chamber Choir, New London Chamber Choir, Ensemble,
James Wood (director) Hyperion CDA 66410.
*
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
conducted the English Bach Festival Orchestra and Chorus on a recording for
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
in 1977, with
Martha Argerich
Martha Argerich (; ; born 5 June 1941) is an Argentine classical concert pianist. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argerich gave her debut concert at the age of eight before receiving further piano training in Europe. At an early age, she won sev ...
,
Krystian Zimerman
Krystian Zimerman (born 5 December 1956) is a Polish concert pianist, conductor and pedagogue who has been described as one of the greatest pianists of his generation. In 1975, he won the IX International Chopin Piano Competition.
Following ...
,
Cyprien Katsaris
Cyprien Katsaris (; born 5 May 1951) is a French- Cypriot virtuoso pianist, teacher and composer. Amongst his teachers were Monique de la Bruchollerie, a student of Emil von Sauer, who had been a pupil of Franz Liszt. He is known for his refine ...
, and
Homero Francesch
Homero Francesch (born 6 December 1947, Montevideo, Uruguay) is a Uruguay-born Switzerland, Swiss pianist.
Biography
Francesch took piano lessons with Santiago Baranda Reyes in Uruguay. In 1967, he was awarded a scholarship by the German Academic ...
as the pianists.
*
Radio France
Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
*France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...
recorded the work in 2011 on a SACD, with Virginie Pesch, Katalin Varkonyi, Pierre Vaello, and Vincent Menez; Percussions de l'Orchestre National de France & de la SMCQ de Montréal; Chœur de Radio France; René Bosc, conductor;
Harmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is a record label that specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group, which is itself owned by Universal M ...
– Musicora; ASIN: B00699QPNM. This recording includes both the 1923 and the 1919 versions by Stravinsky, the latter featuring two
cimbalom
The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...
s, a harmonium and a pianola, instead of the four pianos.
Choreography
Bronislava Nijinska
Bronislava Nijinska (; ; ; ; – February 21, 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer of Polish origin, and an innovative choreographer. She came of age in a family of traveling, professional dancers.
Her own career began in Saint Petersburg. Soon ...
's choreographic interpretation of ''Les Noces'' has been called
protofeminist
Protofeminism is a concept that anticipates modern feminism in eras when the feminist concept as such was still unknown. This refers particularly to times before the 20th century, although the precise usage is disputed, as 18th-century feminism ...
.
Dance Kaleidoscope on same-sex marriage.
''Nuvo'', 15 May 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2014. ''Les Noces'' deserts the upbeat nature of a typical wedding, and instead brings to life the restrictive nature of a woman's duty to marry. The dark and somber set provides the backdrop to the simple costuming and rigid movements. The individuality of the dancer is stripped away in Nijinska's choreography, therefore displaying actors on a predetermined path, as marriage was regarded as the way to maintain and grow the community. The choreography exudes symbolism as, huddled together, the women repeatedly strike the floor with their pointe shoe
A pointe shoe (, ), also referred to as a ''ballet shoe'', is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe technique, pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-li ...
s with rigid intensity, as if to tell the tale of their struggle and ultimate reverence. The Russian peasant culture and the dutifulness it evokes in its people is represented in Nijinska's piece.
Notes
References
* Stravinsky, Igor. ''Les Noces'' in Full Score. Dover Publications (June 25, 1998) .
Further reading
*
External links
Dance Pages: ''Les Noces''
Retrieved September 5, 2005.
* Clements, Andrew
"Stravinsky: ''Les Noces''"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. November 2, 2001. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
* Brendan McCarthy
''Les Noces'' and its performance history
Retrieved 9 November 2005
Reviews of ''Les Noces'' in versions by different choreographers and ensembles.
Stravinsky and the Pianola, on the ''Pianola Institute's'' website.
Antolini Electrifies Stravinsky's Multimedia Masterpiece
Bowdoin College. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
''Les Noces''
(1919 version, Verbey completion) for solo voices, choir, pianola, harmonium, percussion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noces, Les
Ballets Russes productions
1923 ballets
Ballets by Igor Stravinsky
Cantatas by Igor Stravinsky
Piano compositions by Igor Stravinsky
1923 compositions