Pulcinella (ballet)

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Pulcinella
Choreographed by Léonide Massine
Composed by Igor Stravinsky
Based on an 18th-century play
Date of premiere 15 May 1920
Place of premiere Paris
Original ballet company Ballets Russes
Characters Pulcinella
Pimpinella
Furbo
Prudenza
Rosetta
Florindo
Cloviello
Set designed by Pablo Picasso
Genre Neoclassical ballet
Type classical ballet
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Pulcinella is a ballet by Igor Stravinsky based on an 18th-century play. It premiered in Paris on 15 May 1920 under the baton of Ernest Ansermet. The dancer Leonid Myasin (Léonide Massine) created both the libretto and choreography, and Pablo Picasso designed the original costumes and sets. It was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev.

Contents

[edit] History

Diaghilev wanted a ballet based on an early eighteenth-century Commedia dell'arte libretto and music he thought was composed by Giovanni Pergolesi. Although the music was then attributed to Pergolesi, much has since proved to be spurious; some of it may have been written by Domenico Gallo, Carlo Ignazio Monza, and possibly Alessandro Parisotti and Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer. Conductor Ernest Ansermet wrote to Stravinsky in 1919 about the prospect, but the composer initially did not like the idea of music by Pergolesi. However, once he studied the scores, which Diaghilev had found in libraries in Naples and London, he changed his mind. Stravinsky rewrote this older music in a more modern way by borrowing specific themes and textures, but interjecting modern rhythms, cadences and harmonies. Pulcinella is scored for a modern chamber orchestra with soprano, tenor, and baritone soloists. Pulcinella is often considered to be the first piece of Stravinsky's neoclassical period.

[edit] Movements of the complete ballet

  1. Overture: Allegro moderato
  2. Serenata: Larghetto, Mentre l'erbetta (tenor)
  3. Scherzino: Allegro
  4. Allegro
  5. Andantino
  6. Allegro
  7. Ancora poco meno: Contento forse vivere (soprano)
  8. Allegro assai
  9. Allegro- alla breve: Con queste paroline (bass)
  10. Andante: Sento dire no'ncè pace (soprano, tenor & bass)
  11. Allegro: Ncè sta quaccuna po (soprano & tenor)
  12. Presto: Una falan zemprece (tenor)
  13. Allegro: - Alla breve
  14. Tarantella
  15. Andantino: se tu m'ami (soprano)
  16. Allegro
  17. Gavotta con due variazioni
  18. Vivo
  19. Tempo di minuetto: Pupillette, fiammette d'amore (soprano, tenor & bass)
  20. Finale: Allegro assai

[edit] Pulcinella Suite

The Pulcinella Suite is derived from the Ballet and has no singing parts. The Suite was revised by the composer in 1947, some references say 1949. The Ballet score was revised in 1965.

The Pulcinella suite consists of eight movements:

  1. Sinfonia
  2. Serenata
  3. a: Scherzino b: Allegretto c: Andantino
  4. Tarantella
  5. Toccata
  6. Gavotta (con due variazioni)
  7. Vivo
  8. a: Minuetto b: Finale

[edit] Suite Italienne

Stravinsky based the following works on the ballet:

  • 1925: Suite Italienne for violin and piano.
  • 1932/33: Suite Italienne for violoncello and piano (in collaboration with Gregor Piatigorsky).
  • 1934: Suite Italienne for violin and piano (in collaboration with Samuel Dushkin).

[edit] Story

The ballet unfolds in one single act and features Pulcinella, his girlfriend Pimpinella, his friend Furbo, Prudenza and Rosetta, and Florindo and Cloviello. The story starts with Florindo and Cloviello serenading Prudenza and Rosetta. The two women are unimpressed and reply by showering the suitors with water. Prudenza's father, a doctor, appears and chases them away.

A new episode begins with Rosetta with her father appearing. Rosetta dances for Pulcinella and they kiss. But Pimpinella sees this and interrupts the scene. Florindo and Cloviello, disguised as Pulcinella, arrive and jealous of Pulcinella, they beat him up. Pulcinella is then stabbed, but this is actually a mockery to get Pimpinella to forgive Pulcinella. Furbo disguised as a magician appears and resurrects Pulcinella's body in front of everybody. Pimpinella indeed forgives Pulcinella, Prudenza and Rosetta succumb to Florindo's and Cloviello's wooing. The ballet ends with the marriages of the couples.

[edit] Importance

Pulcinella was the gateway to Stravinsky's second phase as a composer, the neoclassical. He wrote of Pulcinella: “Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible. It was a backward look, of course — the first of many love affairs in that direction — but it was a look in the mirror, too.” [1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Saint Louis Symphony Program Notes, in External Links

[edit] External links