''Job: A Masque for Dancing'' is a one act ballet produced for the
Vic-Wells Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
in 1931. Regarded as a crucial work in the development of British ballet, ''Job'' was the first ballet to be produced by an entirely British creative team. The original concept and libretto for the ballet was proposed by the scholar
Geoffrey Keynes
Sir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes ( ; 25 March 1887, Cambridge – 5 July 1982, Cambridge) was a British surgeon and author. He began his career as a physician in World War I, before becoming a doctor at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, where h ...
, with choreography by
Ninette de Valois
Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...
Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
, published in 1826. ''Job'' had its world premiere on 5 July 1931, and was performed for members of the Camargo Society at the
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site".
Design and construction
It was des ...
, London. The first public performance of the ballet took place on 22 September 1931 at the
Old Vic Theatre
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...
.
Development
The concept for a ballet based on the Book of Job was first proposed by the scholar Geoffrey Keynes, who was a respected authority on the work of William Blake.
Music
The music for the ballet, titled ''Job: A Masque for Dancing'', was written by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams called it a "
masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A masq ...
" because he disliked the word "ballet", but the work has no connection with the genre of masque. He began writing the score after the idea for the ballet was initially proposed to the Russian ballet impresario
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...
, who rejected it. As a result, the music was first written for a larger orchestra than could be accommodated in a conventional theatre pit and had its premiere in concert form in October 1930 at the
Norfolk and Norwich Festival
Norfolk & Norwich Festival is an arts festival held annually in Norwich, England.
It is one of the oldest city festivals in England, having been held since 1824 and tracing its roots back further to 1772. It was initially conceived as a fundra ...
, with Vaughan Williams conducting. When the ballet was eventually produced, the music was orchestrated for a small orchestra by
Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...
.
The full orchestral version is scored for three
flutes
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
oboes
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
clarinets
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. ...
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
s (in F), three
trumpets
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B ...
(in Bb), three
trombones
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
,
tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
,
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...
,
triangle
A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, an ...
,
side drum
The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in ...
,
cymbals
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
,
bass drum
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...
,
xylophone
The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...
,
glockenspiel
The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone.
The glo ...
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
, two
harps
The High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) is a high-precision echelle planet-finding spectrograph installed in 2002 on the ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The first light was achieved in February 2003. H ...
, and
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
.
Vaughan Williams dedicated the score to the conductor
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...
in 1934, after the composer had learned that the Bach Choir, which Boult had directed, raised funds towards the engraving of the full score of ''Job'' for publication as a parting gift to Boult. Boult made four commercial recordings of the work, including the first recording in 1946 with the
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
; his fourth and final recording was taped in 1970 with the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
.
O.A. Weltzien has written a detailed analysis of Blake's illustrations and Vaughan Williams' score. F.W.D. Ries published an article containing reminiscences by Keynes of the original production and the later 1948 production.
Performance history
The ballet was first performed by the Vic-Wells Ballet, with financial backing from the Camargo Society. It received its world premiere on 5 July 1931 and was staged for members of the society, at the Cambridge Theatre in London's
West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
district. The role of Satan was performed by
Anton Dolin Anton Dolin may refer to:
* Anton Dolin (ballet dancer)
Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 190425 November 1983) was an English ballet dancer and choreographer.
Biography
Dolin was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey ...
, with Stanley Judson dancing the role of Elihu. The ballet subsequently received its public premiere on 22 September 1931 at the
Old Vic Theatre
The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...
. An adapted version of the ballet was also performed outdoors as part of the
Lewisohn Stadium
Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built on the campus of the City College of New York (CCNY). It opened in 1915 and was demolished in 1973.
History
The Doric-colonnaded amphitheater was built between Amsterdam and Conven ...
concerts, New York City in 1931, staged by
Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was a male pioneer of American modern dance. He created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their separation he created the all-male company Te ...
.
1948 revival
The first major revival of ''Job: A Masque for Dancing'' took place on 20 May 1948, at the
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
,
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
, London. By this time, the Vic-Wells Ballet had become known as the Sadler's Wells Ballet and had relocated from
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...
to become the resident ballet company at the opera house. Due to the significantly larger stage, Raverat's original set designs we no longer suitable for the ballet, so new designs were commissioned, produced by John Piper.
The cast included:
*
Donald Britton
Donald Gene Britton (17 August 1929 – 31 May 1983) was a principal dancer with the two Royal Ballet companies, the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet and the Sadler's Wells Ballet from 1945 to 1965.
Donald Britton was born in London in 1929. He ori ...
*
John Cranko
John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet.
Life and career
Early life
Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Tran ...
*
Leslie Edwards
Leslie George Edwards (6 August 1916 – 8 February 2001) was a British ballet dancer and ballet master. He was one of the final links with Ninette de Valois's original pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet. Apart from two years of military service during t ...
*
Julia Farron
Julia Farron (22 July 1922 – 3 July 2019) was an English ballerina, best known as one of the earliest and all-time youngest members of The Royal Ballet, the leading ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
...
Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Murray Helpmann CBE ( Helpman, 9 April 1909 – 28 September 1986) was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director, and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet (n ...
*
Rowena Jackson
Rowena Othlie Jackson (also known as Chatfield; born 24 March 1926) is a New Zealand former prima ballerina.
Early life
Jackson was born in Invercargill on 24 March 1926 to William Ernest Jackson and Lilian Jane, née Solomon. As a young child ...
*
Gillian Lynne
Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne (née Pyrke; 20 February 1926 – 1 July 2018) was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-runnin ...
*
Nadia Nerina
Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both.
In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: Uk ...
*
Michael Somes
Michael George Somes CBE (28 September 191718 November 1994), was an English ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer of The Royal Ballet, London, and the frequent partner of Margot Fonteyn.
Early years
Somes was born in Horsley, Gloucestersh ...
Sections
The ballet includes 9 scenes, loosely based upon the sequence of Blake's illustrations and each including in the synopsis a quotation from the Bible. Vaughan Williams headed his score with 18 section headings.
* Scene I: "Saraband of the Sons of God" ("Hast thou considered my servant Job?")
– Introduction
– Pastoral Dance
– Satan's Appeal to God
– Saraband of the Sons of God
* Scene II: "Satan's Dance of Triumph" ("So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.")
– Satan's Dance
* Scene III: "Minuet of the Sons of Job and Their Wives" ("There came a great wind and smote the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young men and they are dead.")
– Minuet of the Sons and Daughters of Job
* Scene IV: "Job's Dream" ("In thoughts from the visions of the night....fear came upon me and trembling.")
– Job's Dream
– Dance of Plague, Pestilence, Famine and Battle
* Scene V: "Dance of the Three Messengers" ("There came a messenger.")
– Dance of the Messengers
* Scene VI: "Dance of Job's Comforters" ("Behold happy is the man whom God correcteth.")
– Dance of Job's Comforters
– Job's Curse
– A Vision of Satan
* Scene VII: "Elihu's Dance of Youth and Beauty" ("Ye are old and I am very young.")
– Elihu's Dance of Youth and Beauty
– Pavane of the Heavenly Host
* Scene VIII: "Pavane of the Sons of the Morning" ("All the Sons of God shouted for joy.")
– Galliard of the Sons of the Morning
– Altar Dance and Heavenly Pavane
* Scene IX: "Epilogue" ("So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.")