| Les noces | |
|---|---|
| Choreographed by | Bronislava Nijinska |
| Composed by | Igor Stravinsky |
| Date of premiere | 13 June 1923 |
| Original ballet company | Ballets Russes |
| Genre | Neoclassical ballet |
| Type | classical ballet |
Les noces (English: The Wedding; Russian: Свадебка, Svadebka) by Igor Stravinsky, is a dance cantata, or ballet with vocalists.
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The ballet was premiered on June 13, 1923 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté,[1] by the Ballets Russes with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska. The orchestra was conducted by Ernest Ansermet.
Stravinsky first conceived of writing the ballet in 1913 and completed it in short score by October 1917. During a long gestation period its orchestration changed dramatically. At first conceived for an expanded symphony orchestra similar to that of The Rite of Spring, it went through numerous variations, including at one point the use of synchronised roll-operated instruments, including the Pianola, but he abandoned that version when it was only partially completed, owing to the tardiness of the Parisian piano firm of Pleyel et Cie in constructing the two-keyboard cimbaloms, known subsequently as luthéals.[2]
Stravinsky finally settled on the following scoring: soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and bass soloists, mixed chorus, and two groups of percussion instruments – pitched percussion, including four pianos, and unpitched percussion. This orchestration exemplifies Stravinsky's increasing proclivity towards stripped down, clear and mechanistic sound groups in the decade after The Rite, although he would never again produce such an extreme sonic effect solely with percussion.
The première of the 1919 version of Les Noces, with cimbaloms, harmonium, and pianola, took place in 1981 in Paris, conducted by Pierre Boulez.[3]
An arrangement for symphony orchestra by Steven Stucky was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and premiered under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen on May 29, 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The arrangement retains Stravinsky's percussion parts while replacing the four pianos with a large orchestra.
The unfinished version that included pianola was completed with permission from Stravinsky's heirs by the Dutch composer Theo Verbey and performed in the Netherlands in 2009.[4]
Stravinsky wrote the libretto himself using Russian wedding lyrics taken primarily from Songs Collected by P.V Kireevsky (1911). The work is usually performed in Russian or French; English translations are sometimes used, and Stravinsky used one himself in both the 1934 and 1959 recordings he conducted for Columbia records.
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