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From the outset, the Pavane has enjoyed immense popularity, whether with or without chorus.<ref>Nectoux, p. 338</ref> With choreography by [[Léonide Massine]] a ballet version entered the repertoire of [[Sergei Diaghilev]]'s [[Ballets Russes]] in 1917, where it was alternatively billed as ''Las Mininas'' or ''Les Jardins d'Aranjuez''. For Massine, the music had "haunting echoes of Spain's Golden Age" parallelling the formality and underlying sadness he found in the paintings of [[Velásquez]].<ref name=n25/> Some critics found the ballet pallid, but Diaghilev retained a fondness for the piece, and kept it in the company's repertoire until the end of his life.<ref name=n25/>
From the outset, the Pavane has enjoyed immense popularity, whether with or without chorus.<ref>Nectoux, p. 338</ref> With choreography by [[Léonide Massine]] a ballet version entered the repertoire of [[Sergei Diaghilev]]'s [[Ballets Russes]] in 1917, where it was alternatively billed as ''Las Mininas'' or ''Les Jardins d'Aranjuez''. For Massine, the music had "haunting echoes of Spain's Golden Age" parallelling the formality and underlying sadness he found in the paintings of [[Velásquez]].<ref name=n25/> Some critics found the ballet pallid, but Diaghilev retained a fondness for the piece, and kept it in the company's repertoire until the end of his life.<ref name=n25/>


Fauré's example was imitated by his juniors, who went on to write pavanes of their own: [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s Passepied in his ''[[Suite bergamasque]]'' and [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Pavane pour une infante défunte]]'',<ref>Nectoux, p. 109</ref> and "Pavane de la belle au bois dormant" in ''[[Ma mère l'oye]]''.<ref>Brown, Alan. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/21120"Pavan",] ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 15 November 2011 {{subscription}}</ref>
Fauré's example was imitated by his juniors, who went on to write pavanes of their own: [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s Passepied in his ''[[Suite bergamasque]]'' and [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Pavane pour une infante défunte]]'',<ref>Nectoux, p. 109</ref> and "Pavane de la belle au bois dormant" in ''[[Ma mère l'oye]]''.<ref>Brown, Alan. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/21120%22Pavan%22,] ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford Music Online, accessed 15 November 2011 {{subscription}}</ref>


==Lyrics==
==Lyrics==

Revision as of 01:55, 25 November 2011

File:Fauré in 1887.jpg
Fauré in 1887

The Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50, is a composition by the French composer Gabriel Fauré, written in 1887. It was originally a piano piece, but is better known in Fauré's version for orchestra and optional chorus. Obtaining its rhythm from the slow processional Spanish court dance of the same name, the Pavane ebbs and flows from a series of harmonic and melodic climaxes, conjuring a cool, somewhat haunting, Belle Époque elegance. The piece is scored for only modest orchestral forces consisting of strings and one pair each of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns. A typical performance lasts about six minutes.

History

The original version of the Pavane was written for piano in the late 1880s.[1] The composer described it as "elegant, but not otherwise important."[2] Fauré intended it to be played more briskly than it has generally come to be performed in its more familiar orchestral guise. The conductor Sir Adrian Boult heard Fauré play the piano version several times and noted that he took it at a tempo no slower than crochet=100.[3] Boult commented that the composer's sprightly tempo emphasised that the Pavane was not a piece of German romanticism,[3] and that the text later added was "clearly a piece of light-hearted chaffing between the dancers".[4]

Fauré composed the orchestral version at Le Vésinet in the summer of 1887.[5] He envisaged a purely orchestral composition, using modest forces, to be played at a series of light summer concerts conducted by Jules Danbé.[5] After Fauré opted to dedicate the work to his patron, Elisabeth, comtesse Greffulhe,[6] he felt compelled to stage a grander affair and at her recommendation he added an invisible chorus to accompany the orchestra (with additional allowance for dancers). The choral lyrics were based on some inconsequential verses, à la Verlaine, on the romantic helplessness of man, which had been contributed by the Countess's cousin, Robert de Montesquiou.[7]

The orchestral version was first performed at a Concert Lamoureux under the baton of Charles Lamoureux on November 25, 1888.[5] Three days later, the choral version was premiered at a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique. In 1891, the Countess finally helped Fauré produce the version with both dancers and chorus, in a "choreographic spectacle" designed to grace one of her garden parties in the Bois de Boulogne.[8]

From the outset, the Pavane has enjoyed immense popularity, whether with or without chorus.[9] With choreography by Léonide Massine a ballet version entered the repertoire of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1917, where it was alternatively billed as Las Mininas or Les Jardins d'Aranjuez. For Massine, the music had "haunting echoes of Spain's Golden Age" parallelling the formality and underlying sadness he found in the paintings of Velásquez.[2] Some critics found the ballet pallid, but Diaghilev retained a fondness for the piece, and kept it in the company's repertoire until the end of his life.[2]

Fauré's example was imitated by his juniors, who went on to write pavanes of their own: Debussy's Passepied in his Suite bergamasque and Ravel's Pavane pour une infante défunte,[10] and "Pavane de la belle au bois dormant" in Ma mère l'oye.[11]

Lyrics

C'est Lindor, c'est Tircis et c'est tous nos vainqueurs!
C'est Myrtille, c'est Lydé! Les reines de nos coeurs!
Comme ils sont provocants! Comme ils sont fiers toujours!
Comme on ose régner sur nos sorts et nos jours!

Faites attention! Observez la mesure!

Ô la mortelle injure! La cadence est moins lente!
Et la chute plus sûre! Nous rabattrons bien leur caquets!
Nous serons bientôt leurs laquais!
Qu'ils sont laids! Chers minois!
Qu'ils sont fols! (Airs coquets!)

Et c'est toujours de même, et c'est ainsi toujours!
On s'adore! On se hait! On maudit ses amours!
Adieu Myrtille, Eglé, Chloé, démons moqueurs!
Adieu donc et bons jours aux tyrans de nos coeurs!
Et bons jours!

The Pavane features in Il Divo, a 2008 film about Giulio Andreotti. Lexi skates to Pavane at her first competition in the 2010 version of the film Ice Castles. At the time of the association football World Cup in 1998, the Wimbledon Choral Society's recording of the Pavane reached No. 20 in the UK Singles Chart for one week in July 1998. Other recordings appear in the following albums: This is Love by Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin, featuring Joshua Bell and Renée Fleming; The Jethro Tull Christmas Album; Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra; Classical Barbra by Barbra Streisand; and Á la Française by The King's Singers. Other adaptations include: "Isabel" (song) by Il Divo; "Memories" by Young Maestro Ft. The Firm & Ozmosis; "Natural" by S Club 7; "Paparazzi" by Xzibit; "Human Sacrifice" by Sweetbox; "Fauré's Pavane" by Tinnitus Project; "Pavanorama" by Deviations Project from the album Ivory Bow; the adventure computer game Return to Zork; "Mr. Nobody (film)" a 2009 film; "Dream a Dream (Elysium)" (song) by Charlotte Church and Billy Gilman in 2000 (later also covered by Liriel Domiciano and Priscila Caprit in 2007).

Notes

  1. ^ Howat, p. 155
  2. ^ a b c Norton, p. 25
  3. ^ a b Howat, p. 272
  4. ^ Boult, Adrian C. "Faure's Pavane", The Musical Times, Vol. 117, No. 1600 (June 1976), p. 490 (subscription required)
  5. ^ a b c Orledge, Robert (1993). Notes to EMI CD CDM 7-64715-2
  6. ^ Nectoux. p. 172
  7. ^ Nectoux, p. 34
  8. ^ Nectoux, p. 510
  9. ^ Nectoux, p. 338
  10. ^ Nectoux, p. 109
  11. ^ Brown, Alan. [1] Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, accessed 15 November 2011 (subscription required)

References

  • Howat, Roy (2009). The Art of French Piano Music. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300145470.
  • Nectoux, Jean-Michel (1991). Gabriel Fauré – A Musical Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521235243. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Norton, Leslie (2004). Léonide Massine and the 20th Century Ballet. Jefferson NC.: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786417528.
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