''Nobilissima visione'' (''The Noblest Vision'') is a 50-minute

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 ...

(or, more precisely, a "dance legend") in six scenes by

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

, originally choreographed by

Léonide Massine Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin (), better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine (15 March 1979), was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, ''Les Présages'', and ...

for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The libretto by Hindemith and Massine depicts episodes from the life of Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

. The work was completed in February 1938 and premiered at

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

in London on 21 July 1938, with sets and costumes by Pavel Tchelitchew and under the baton of the composer. He led one performance of the new ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York (for which the title was temporarily altered to ''Saint Francis'') on 14 October of the same year.''Selected Letters of Paul Hindemith'', 1995, pp. 118-19. After the ballet premiere, Hindemith extracted a 20-minute orchestral suite (retaining the ''Nobilissima visione'' name) in three movements, using five of the original eleven movements: # Introduction and Rondo # March and Pastorale # Passacaglia The first performance of the suite in Venice was at

Teatro La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix (mythology), Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especial ...

on 13 September 1938 and has become a regularly programmed orchestral work. Though the ballet was originally scored for a small orchestra, the suite was for a full symphony orchestra from the outset. The suite does not attempt to follow the action of the ballet, instead Hindemith extracted only those portions of the score which he felt would be most effective in the concert hall. Hindemith himself conducted the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

in a 21 November 1956 stereophonic recording of the suite, which was released by EMI.

References

Notes Sources * Hindemith, Paul (1995). ''Selected Letters of Paul Hindemith''. Yale University Press. * Ballets by Léonide Massine Ballets by Paul Hindemith Compositions by Paul Hindemith 1938 compositions Cultural depictions of Francis of Assisi 1938 ballets {{classical-composition-stub

See also

References