Arts & Events

It is no secret that Debussy first, then Ravel, were greatly impressed with music from the Orient -- Debussy with Javanese gamelan music, and Ravel with Gypsy music, gamelan music, and the musical possibilities of the tales in Arabic of Sinbad the Sailor. Ravel, of course, was also greatly influenced by music from his mother’s Spanish roots, involving a musical tradition dating from the Moorish conquest of Spain in the 1400s. So it was that Maurice Ravel, already having achieved his first success with the poignant Pavane pour une Infante défunte (1899), became intrigued with the idea of composing his version of the tales of Shéhérazade. Using Tristan Klingsor’s poems as a base, Ravel chose to compose music in three parts: the first, a long poem of orientalist evocations of Asia; the second, a brief evocation of a magic flute; and the third, a tribute to the mysterious indifference of the East toward westerners. 

Over the weekend of April 19-21, San Francisco Symphony presented Jan Pascal Tortellier conducting the orchestra in a program of works by Ravel and Debussy. Ravel’s Shéhérazade was admirably sung by mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, whose diction in French was exquisite, as was her vocalism. Preceding Ravel’s Shéhérazade were two short works by Debussy – Sarabande (1894/1922), and Danse (1890/1922). The latter, a very lively Tarantella, was particularly effective, though I had never before encountered the suggestion in the program notes that this upbeat, even frenzied dance music originated as a response to a snakebite or other reptile bite from a poisonous viper.  

After intermission, Jan Pascal Tortellier returned to conduct the San Francisco Symphony in Ravel’s ballet music for Daphnis et Chloe, first written for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. The music for Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe is richly orchestrated. It opens quietly with a harp, a flute, and murmuring strings, followed by a clarinet. Styled as a Choreographic Symphony in Three Parts, this work evokes the pastoral world of ancient Greek Arcadia, where a simple shepherd, Daphnis, loves a nymph, Chloe, and despite difficulties, their love ends well. The most famous moment of this work comes at the beginning of Part III, when a daybreak scene ensues. Here harps, flutes, and clarinets flutter softly over muted strings to depict the breaking of dawn over Arcadia. Earlier, Chloe has been abducted by pirates, and Part II involves the god Pan who is summoned to rescue her. Pan’s intervention leading a band of fauns sends the pirates reeling. Part III opens with the aforementioned Daybreak music, then launches into a full-fledged celebration of the reunited love-couple of Daphnis and Chloe. Conducting throughout without a baton, Jan Pascal Tortellier did a fine job of bringing out the exotic orchestration of Ravel’s innovative score.