Notes on the Program by DR. RICHARD E. RODDA
Nocturnes for Two Pianos
Claude Debussy
Born August 22, 1862 in St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris.
Died March 25, 1918 in Paris.
Arranged by Maurice Ravel
Composed for orchestra in 1897-99; Sirènes arranged in 1901, Nuages and
Fêtes arranged in 1909.
Orchestral version premiered on October 27, 1901 in Paris, conducted by
Camille Chevillard; arrangement of Sirènes premiered on April 20, 1903 in
Paris; complete arrangement premiered on April 24, 1911 in Paris by Ravel and
Louis Aubert.
Duration: 21 minutes
Maurice Ravel was born in 1875 in Ciboure, south of the coastal city of
Biarritz, and three months later moved with his family to Paris. He began piano
lessons when he was seven, started studying music theory five years later, and
in 1891 entered the Paris Conservatoire. Ravel immersed himself in the
musical life of the capital during those years, and he was especially impressed
with performances of Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to The
Afternoon of a Faun), La Damoiselle élue (The Blessed Damozel), and Proses
lyriques by Claude Debussy. Thirteen years Ravel’s senior and a recent
graduate of the Conservatoire, Debussy was quickly becoming one of France’s
most prominent (and most controversial) composers. Debussy learned about
Ravel from their mutual friend pianist Ricardo Viñes, who in March 1898
invited Debussy to the premiere of the Sites auriculaires (Scenes for the Ear),
Ravel’s public debut as a composer. Viñes admitted that he and his keyboard
partner for the performance, Marthe Dron, “made a mess of it,” but Debussy
was intrigued enough with the piece to ask Ravel for a copy of the score.
Though the fastidious Ravel and the profligate Debussy could probably never
have been intimate friends, they shared interests in contemporary French
poetry, art, literature, and music, frequented some of the same salons, had
many colleagues in common, and spoke glowingly of each other’s talents: “the
most phenomenal genius in the history of French music,” said Ravel of
Debussy; “the most refined ear there has ever been,” responded Debussy.
Debussy and Ravel also found a personal bond in Raoul Bardac, an aspiring
composer who was a fellow student of Ravel at the Conservatoire and a private
pupil of Debussy. (In 1904, Debussy abandoned his first wife, Lilly, for Raoul’s
mother, Emma, a gifted amateur singer, wife of a noted financier, and former
mistress of Gabriel Fauré, Ravel’s teacher. Their marriage four years later,
following a suicide attempt by Lilly, created a good deal of animosity among the
Parisian public toward Debussy.) In April 1901, Ravel and Bardac settled on a
plan to make two-piano versions of Debussy’s three Nocturnes for Orchestra of
1897-99, the first two of which, Nuages and Fêtes, had been premiered at a
Lamoureux Concert the preceding December. (A women’s chorus could not be
assembled in time to perform in the closing Sirènes. The movement was first
heard on October 27, 1901 as part of the premiere of the complete Nocturnes.)
“Having shown some ability for this work,” Ravel wrote to the composer Florent
Schmitt, “I was assigned the task of transcribing Sirènes all alone. It is perhaps
the most perfectly beautiful of the Nocturnes and certainly the most perilous to
transcribe.” The arrangement of Sirènes was played in Paris on April 20, 1903,
but Ravel did not get around to transcribing Nuages and Fêtes until 1909;
when the scores were published later that year they did not mention Bardac.
Ravel played all three Nocturnes on April 24, 1911 at the Salle Gaveau with
Louis Aubert, pianist, composer, and dedicatee that year of Ravel’s Valses
nobles et sentimentales.
The personal relationship between musical Impressionism’s two seminal
figures started its decline in 1904 with the premiere of Ravel’s String Quartet, a
genre Debussy had broached a decade before. Though Debussy praised the
piece (“in the name of the gods of music, and in mine,” he wrote to Ravel, “do
not touch a single note of what you have written”), the rancorous public and
critical debate over the relative merits of the two works pitted the friends
against each other in a confrontation that neither could win. Their differing
personalities and disparate musical styles — sonority-driven and mistily
evocative for Debussy, precise and classically based for Ravel — were already
driving them apart by that time, and they were estranged by 1908. “It’s
probably better for us, after all, to be on frigid terms for illogical reasons,” Ravel
later rationalized.
Debussy himself caught the delicate blending of reality and imagination in
his poetic description of the Nocturnes: “The title Nocturnes is intended to have
here a more general and, more particularly, a more decorative meaning. It is
not meant to designate the usual form of a nocturne, but rather all the
impressions and the special effects of light that the word suggests.
“Nuages (Clouds): the unchanging aspect of the sky and the slow and
solemn march of clouds fading away in gray tones slightly tinged with white.
“Fêtes (Festivals): vibrating, dancing rhythm, with sudden flashes of light.
There is also the episode of a procession (a dazzling, fantastic vision) passing
through the festive scene and becoming blended with it; but the background
remains persistently the same: the festival with its blending of music and
luminous dust participating in the universal rhythm of things.
“Sirènes (Sirens): the sea and its endless rhythms; then amid the billows
silvered by the moon, the mysterious song of the Sirens is heard; it laughs and
passes.”
Petite Suite for Piano, Four Hands
Claude Debussy
Composed in 1886-89.
Duration: 13 minutes
During the early years of his life, before he fell under the influence of Eric
Satie and the Symbolist poets, Debussy turned to the refined style of Couperin,
Rameau, and the French Baroque composers for inspiration in his
instrumental music. Several works of that time are modeled on the Baroque
dance suite, including his most popular piece, Clair de Lune, originally
conceived as a simple slow movement for the Suite Bergamasque of 1889, the
year in which he completed the Petite Suite. Like the Suite Bergamasque, the
Petite Suite comprises brief dance movements that reflect the concise form and
clear melody of their models.
Each of the four movements bears a title reflecting its general character. En
bâteau (In a Boat) is a lullaby-barcarolle that uses whole-tone scales in its
central section. Cortège displays none of the funereal solemnity usually
associated with pieces of that name, but rather calls to mind a pleasant stroll
along the sun-dappled bank of a bubbling stream. Since Debussy associated
the paintings of Watteau with Rameau’s music, this Cortège may have been
meant to summon the elegant sensuality of such a canvas as The Embarkation
to Cythera. The following Menuet is a wistful evocation of the most durable of
all Baroque dances. The lively Ballet that closes the Petite Suite is not music for
choreography, but rather recalls the Italian balletti of the 16th century, the
dance-like vocal pieces for home entertainment that were imported into
England as balletts (the “tt” is pronounced) and distinguished by their
characteristic “fa-la-la” refrains.
Jeux, poème dansé for Two Pianos
Claude Debussy
Arranged by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Composed in 1912-13.
Premiered on May 15, 1913 in Paris, conducted by Pierre Monteux.
Duration: 16 minutes
In May of 1912 Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes staged a production of
Debussy’s 1894 Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun in which Vaslav Nijinsky
danced the title role and provided choreography sufficiently lubricious to cause
a scandal. Following the publicity-stimulating furor over Faun, Nijinsky devised
a new scenario. Diaghilev saw it as an opportunity to move the Ballets Russes
away from the nymphs and fantasies of his earlier productions and toward a
bold modernity in subject and treatment. Nijinsky’s scenario used the modish
game of tennis (which, incidentally, Nijinsky did not try playing until 1916 in
New York) as the catalyst for a sensual episode of flirtation: The scene is a
garden at dusk; a tennis ball has been lost; a young man and two girls are
searching for it. The artificial light of the large electric lamps shedding fantastic
rays about them suggests the idea of childish games: they play hide and seek,
they try to catch one another, they quarrel, they sulk without cause. The night
is warm, the sky is bathed in pale light; they embrace. But the spell is broken
by another tennis ball thrown in mischievously by an unknown hand.
Surprised and alarmed, the young man and the girls disappear into the
nocturnal depths of the garden. Diaghilev and Nijinsky approached Debussy
about composing the music for this thinly veiled erotic gambol, titled Jeux
(Games). “No,” he told them. “It’s idiotic and unmusical! I would not dream of
writing the score.” Changes were made to overcome Debussy’s objections to the
scenario, pleas were issued, and the fee was doubled; Debussy accepted the
commission. The score was sketched in the fall of 1912, the orchestration was
done quickly between March 28 and April 24, 1913, and Jeux was premiered at
the Théâtre des Champs Élysées on May 15.
The two-piano transcription of Jeux is by the internationally acclaimed
French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, who performs the top part in this
performance. He writes: “Debussy, writing to Jacques Durand on September
13, 1913, referred to a transcription of Jeux for two pianos that he was
completing. Unfortunately, the score has never been found.
The idea of actually doing this was given to me by Klaus Lauer, director of
the Römerbad Musiktage in Germany, and when the work was premiered at
Badenweiler in 1998, Jeux, poème dansé for Two Pianos Zoltán Kocsis, himself
an experienced transcriber, proved to be a devoted and inspirational partner.
Knowing how attached Pierre Boulez is to this composition, I would like to
express my gratitude to him; after receiving the score, he confirmed the interest
there would be in a ‘black and white’ version of the work, bringing it quite
amazingly close to other works written for piano (pianos) at the same time.
I trust that the transcription will give everyone who plays it and everyone
who hears it as much pleasure as I have had writing it.”
Jeux d’enfants for Piano, Four Hands
Georges Bizet
Born October 25, 1838 in Paris.
Died June 3, 1875 in Bougival, near Paris.
Composed in 1871.
Duration: 20 minutes
Jeux d’enfants (Children’s Games), one of the most charming and
effervescent creations in the entire realm of music, was a product of the most
difficult time of Georges Bizet’s life. On June 3, 1869 in Paris, Bizet married
Geneviève Halévy, daughter of the famed composer (most notably of La Juive,
one of Caruso’s favorite operas) and his teacher, Jacques Halévy. Geneviève
was, alas, too much the child of her mother, who was subject to frequent
psychotic attacks intense enough to require her confinement. Geneviève
likewise suffered from emotional instability throughout her life, and she was
especially unnerved by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870
and by the four-month siege of Paris that began in September. By January
1871, Bismarck’s troops had gobbled up sufficient political booty in the form of
Alsace and Lorraine, and an armistice was proclaimed. Georges took his wife to
visit Mme. Halévy in Bordeaux, but within two days her mother’s company had
reduced Geneviève to such a state of nervous prostration that she begged to be
taken back to Paris. The Prussians entered Paris again in March, however, and
the Bizets were forced to flee to Le Vésinet outside the city. The invaders
withdrew two days later, leaving the city ripe for civil strife, and an extreme
leftist group, opposed to the humiliating treaty terms proposed by Germany to
the Thiers government based at Versailles, determined to establish a
Commune. The Communards erected barricades, shot hostages (including the
Archbishop of Paris), burned the Tuileries and the city hall, and created havoc
among the citizens. The Bizets listened to the cannonade in the distance for
weeks. On May 28, 1871, the Versaillais marched on the city (while the
Prussians stood by as neutrals), crushed the rebellion, and in retaliation
executed some 17,000 persons, including women and children. The Bizets
returned to their flat, fortunately undamaged, in early June.
Out of the turbulent situation in 1871, however, came one of Bizet’s most
delightful works, a suite of miniatures for piano, four hands titled Jeux
d’enfants. Little is known about the inspiration or creation of the work. The
published score bears a dedication to “Mesdemoiselles Marguerite de Beaulieu
et Fanny Gouin,” daughters of Geneviève’s cousin (with whom she lived before
marrying Georges) and a close friend of the family, and the music may have
been created for their entertainment or participation.
“Each movement of Jeux d’enfants is vividly illustrative of a facet of
childhood,” wrote Winton Dean in his study of Bizet, “but there is not a trace of
triviality, self-consciousness or false sentiment.” L’Escarpolette (The Swing) is
depicted by a halcyon melody draped across contented back-and-forth
arpeggios. La Toupie (The Top) spins energetically, wobbles to a stop, and then
does it again. La Poupée (The Doll) is a gently rocking lullaby. Les Chevaux de
bois (Merry-Go-Round) is evoked by galloping equine rhythms and a few giddy
harmonic surprises. Tiny, airborne phrases suggest the short flights of Le
Volant (The Shuttlecock) in a game of badminton. Bizet originally composed the
march Trompette et Tambour (Trumpet and Drum) for his 1865 opera Ivan the
Terrible. The evanescent gestures of Les Bulles de Savon (Soap Bubbles)
conjure up the glint, wayward motion, and short life of its subject. The bustling
rhythms and bursts of activity of Les Quatre Coins (The Four Corners) suggest
the playing field of a children’s game. The hesitant figures of Colin-Maillard
(Blind Man’s Buff) recall the movements of a blindfolded child searching for his
playmates. Saute-Mouton (Leapfrog) jumps and scampers and leaves itself
breathless at the end. A sweetly sentimental Duo evokes two youngsters playing
house in Petit mari, petite femme (Little Husband, Little Wife). Jeux d’enfants
closes with a sparkling Galop titled Le Bal (The Ball).
An American in Paris for Two Pianos
George Gershwin
Born September 26, 1898 in Brooklyn, New York.
Died July 11, 1937 in Hollywood, California.
Composed in 1928.
Duration: 18 minutes
In 1928, George Gershwin was not only the toast of Broadway, but of all
America, Britain, and many spots in Europe as well: he had produced a string
of successful shows (Rosalie and Funny Face were both running on Broadway
that spring), composed two of the most popular concert pieces in recent
memory (Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F), and was leading a life that
would have made the most glamorous socialite jealous. The pace-setting
Rhapsody in Blue of 1924 had shown a way to bridge the worlds of jazz and
serious music, a direction Gershwin followed further in the exuberant yet
haunting Concerto in F the following year. He was eager to move further into
the concert world, and during a side trip in March 1926 to Paris from London,
where he was preparing the English premiere of Lady Be Good, he hit upon an
idea, a “walking theme” he called it, that seemed to capture the impression of
an American visitor to the city “as he strolls about, listens to the various street
noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere.” He worried that “this melody is
so complete in itself, I don’t know where to go next,” but the purchase of four
Parisian taxi horns on the Avenue de la Grande Armée inspired a second theme
for the piece. Later that year, a commission for a new orchestral composition
from Walter Damrosch, music director of the New York Symphony and
conductor of the sensational premiere of the Concerto in F, caused Gershwin to
gather up his Parisian sketches, and by January 1928, he was at work on the
score: An American in Paris. The two-piano draft was finished by August 1st,
and the orchestration completed only a month before the premiere, on
December 13, 1928. An American in Paris, though met with a mixed critical
reception, proved a great success with the public, and it quickly became clear
that Gershwin had scored yet another hit.
For An American in Paris, as for his other orchestral compositions, Gershwin
created a fully finished score for two pianos before he began the
instrumentation. That was the manuscript that he carried around Europe with
him in 1928, working on it as he could, trying it out when he could find a
willing and capable colleague. He orchestrated the two-piano score completely
the following fall, and then cut out about four minutes of repeats and
aggrandizements near the end before the premiere, though these are preserved
in both the piano and orchestral manuscripts. An American in Paris was
published in a version for solo piano by Gershwin’s long-time friend and
musical associate William Daly in 1929, and in full orchestra score the
following year, but Gershwin gave the two-piano score to Max Dreyfus, his
publisher “and still my friend,” who kept it in his private collection. In 1944,
Gregory Stone made a two-piano reduction of the orchestral score, and in
1980, the Labeque sisters recorded this version (and the Concerto in F), sent it
to Ira Gershwin, George’s brother and lyricist, and expressed their desire to
record more of his music. Four years later the original two-piano manuscript
became available, and the Gershwin estate purchased it to include in the
nearly complete archive of his manuscripts in the Library of Congress. The
Labeques recorded for EMI it later that year, and it was finally published in
1986.
©2013 Dr. Richard E. Rodda