The Creation of Daphnis and Chloé
Article
Once upon a time in the world of classical music, there was the story of Daphnis and Chloé: Maurice Ravel’s most ambitious orchestral work, a ballet composed on commission for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Choreographer Michel Fokine wrote the libretto for this ballet based on the pastoral novel of the same name by the Greek author Longus. It tells the story of the love between the shepherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé, who is kidnapped by pirates and rescued by the god Pan. Although Ravel’s ballet is now known as a symphonic masterpiece, the creation process and the first performances of Daphnis and Chloé were anything but smooth...
The idea to create a ballet based on the story of Daphnis and Chloé came from Mikhail Fokine, a young choreographer with a passion for classical antiquity. He approached Sergei Diaghilev with a script based on the pastoral romance by Longus, which had just been translated into Russian. Enthused by Fokine’s plan, Diaghilev asked Maurice Ravel to compose the music and invited him to collaborate with Fokine to further develop the libretto.
When Ravel accepted the offer, he was already an established composer known for works like the Rapsodie espagnole and Pavane pour une infante défunte. In 1909, he traveled to Saint Petersburg to meet Fokine, which marked the beginning of many difficulties. In a letter to Marguerite de Saint-Marceaux, Ravel wrote: 'I’ve just had a crazy week where I had to prepare a ballet libretto for the upcoming Russian season. Almost every night I worked until three in the morning. What complicates matters endlessly is that Fokine doesn’t speak a word of French, and I can only swear in Russian. You can imagine the atmosphere of these meetings, even though there were interpreters present.'
Beyond the language barrier, there were other differences between the two men. Ravel and Fokine had totally different visions of classical antiquity and how it should be represented. Fokine sought a certain historical accuracy, while Ravel aimed to 'compose a grand musical fresco, less concerned with archaisms but faithful to the Greece of my dreams, which greatly resembles the Greece of French painters at the end of the 18th century.' Longus’s work also became a point of contention: Fokine was fascinated by the eroticism in the text, while Ravel saw only an evocation of chaste love between two adolescents. The work was revised several times, and the premiere, originally scheduled for 1911, was postponed. The revisions affected both the libretto and the score. Notably, the Bacchanal expanded from nine pages in the original version to twenty in the final score.
The rehearsals did not go smoothly. Ravel’s unconventional rhythms caused problems for the dancers, and Fokine had so little time to rehearse that he was forced to improvise. Diaghilev criticized the composer for writing music that was more 'symphonic' than 'choreographic.' Additionally, tensions quickly arose between Fokine and Vaslav Nijinsky, the star dancer playing Daphnis. Nijinsky deliberately resisted the choreographer’s concept, abandoning all choreographic depth and opting for movements that clashed with the character of the music. Fokine further accused Diaghilev of sabotaging the production by limiting rehearsal time and reusing costumes from another ballet.
The ballet finally premiered on June 8, 1912, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Only two of the four scheduled performances took place, and after the show, Ravel refused to come on stage to greet the audience.
The ballet finally premiered on June 8, 1912, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Only two of the four scheduled performances took place, and after the show, Ravel refused to come on stage to greet the audience. The following season, Daphnis and Chloé was revived in Paris and performed the next year in London, but without the choir part—something that enraged the composer.
The reception was lukewarm, and critics were harsh, describing the work as 'tedious.' Igor Stravinsky had a different opinion, calling the music of Daphnis and Chloé 'not only one of Ravel’s best works but also one of the finest works of French music.' In the end, the Russian composer was proven right. Several choreographers would later create new ballets for Ravel’s score. Thanks to the two orchestral suites Ravel distilled from Daphnis and Chloé, the music began to live on in the concert hall and soon became part of the symphonic repertoire.
With his 'choreographic symphony,' Ravel ushered in a new era in the musical conception of ballet. Like La Valse, Daphnis and Chloé is more of a symphonic poem than a choreographic poem. Or as Diaghilev put it: 'Ravel, it’s a masterpiece, but it’s not a ballet. It’s the painting of a ballet.'
