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''Pièces pittoresques'' (''Picturesque pieces'') are a set of ten pieces for
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
by
Emmanuel Chabrier Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...
. Four of the set were later
orchestrated Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
by the composer to make his ''Suite pastorale''.


Background

In 1880, while on a convalescent holiday at the coastal resort of Saint-Pair (near Granville), Chabrier composed what were to be called ''Pièces pittoresques''.Delage R. ''Emmanuel Chabrier''. Fayard, Paris, 1999. Both
Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...
(in ''La musique française de piano'', PUF, 1932) and
Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
(''Emmanuel Chabrier'', 1961) discuss these short works enthusiastically.
César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...
, at their premiere in 1881, remarked that those present had "just heard something exceptional. This music links our own time to that of
Couperin The Couperin family was a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era (17th—18th centuries). Louis Couperin and his nephew, François Coup ...
and
Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera an ...
". The
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
in the archive of Litolff publishers was destroyed by an air-raid on Brunswick in 1942. The first performances of individual pieces took place on different dates: 9 April 1881 for ''Sous-bois'', ''Idylle'', ''Danse villageoise'', ''Improvisation'', ''Menuet pompeux'', ''Scherzo-valse'' (Marie Poitevin); ''Mélancolie'' on 24 December 1887 (
Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène (Léontine-Marie Pène) was a notable French pianist, who premiered major works by César Franck, Vincent d'Indy and others. She married a brother of the composer Charles Bordes, and was known by the surname Bordes-Pè ...
); others unknown. Several of the movements were incorporated 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 ...
in the 1934 ballet '' Bar aux Folies-Bergère''.


Description of the pieces

;''Paysage'' (''Landscape'') D-flat major, 2/4; ''Allegro non troppo – vivo'' (dedicated to La comtesse de Narbonne-Lara)
For
Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
, ''Paysage'' portrayed a landscape where life was to be enjoyed. The middle section is a voluble depiction of agitation calmed by the return of the main theme. ''Paysage'' opens the cycle with a straight perfect cadence to the tonic D-flat, downgrading what textbooks would tell us should be reserved for a more conclusive moment. ''Paysage'' is riddled with rhythmic and harmonic games, not least the absence throughout of a single clear four-bar phrase; the piece's opening section, all in three-bar phrases, makes two teasing feints at four-bar phrases, both thwarted.Howat R. Modernization: from Chabrier to Faure to Debussy and Ravel. In: ''French Music since Berlioz.'' By Richard Langham Smith, Caroline Potter. Ashgate Publishing, 2006. Poulenc suggests that the piece should be played with "allegresse et tendresse".Poulenc F. ''Emmanuel Chabrier.'' La Palatine, Geneva & Paris, 1961. ;''Mélancolie'' (''Melancholy'') G major, 9 & 6/8; ''Ben moderato senza rigore et sempre tempo rubato'' (dedicated to Marie Pillon)
About ''Mélancolie'', Cortot was moved to write that its 'nostalgic charm and discreet perfection' defied analysis.
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
saw the soul of
Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...
's ''
Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
'' in ''Mélancolie''. The alternating 9/8 and 6/8 bars create an atmosphere of wandering tenderness and uncertainty; the piece closes with a canon at the double octave then in lows fifths. ''Mélancolie'' is a sophisticated blend of textural inversion, canon and rhythmic compression that essentially determines the piece's outer envelope. Poulenc suggests that the piece should be played with "allegresse et tendresse". ;''Tourbillon'' (''Whirlwind'') D major, 3/4; ''Allegro con fuoco'' (dedicated to Marie Meurice)
At first echoing the animated rhythms of Berlioz's ''
Béatrice et Bénédict ''Béatrice et Bénédict'' (''Beatrice and Benedick'') is an '' opéra comique'' in two acts by French composer Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based in general outline on a subplot in Shakespeare's ''Much Ado About N ...
'', it evolves into a more complex beat, avoiding the bar-line. Its almost aggressive force is perhaps a reminder of the possibilities of Chabrier's own playing. The final bars juxtapose a Mendelssohnian passage with one ironically in the manner of Offenbach. ;''Sous-bois'' (''Under the trees'') C major, 2/4; ''Andantino'' (dedicated to Marie de la Guèronnière)
Economy of means, a sense of movement even in immobility and constantly changing harmonies (from C major to remote and unlikely tonalities) in the right-hand and the weaving bass over which a broken melody. Poulenc wrote that Ravel had often spoken to him of this piece with enthusiasm, considering it one of the great moments in Chabrier's output. ;''Mauresque'' (''Moorish'') A minor, 3/4; ''Moderato'' (dedicated to Madame Charles Phalen)
Written before Chabrier's visit to Spain but colourful and with modal touches, muted effects and plucked notes – a precursor of
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
's '' Soirée dans Grenade''. Poulenc compared it to the ''Forlane'' from Ravel's ''
Le tombeau de Couperin ''Le Tombeau de Couperin'' (''The Couperin's Grave'') is a suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. The piece is in six movements, based on those of a traditional Baroque suite. Each movement is dedicated to the me ...
''. ;''Idylle'' (''Idyll'') E major, 4/4; ''Allegretto'' (dedicated to Jeanne Monvoisin)
'Allegretto avec fraîcheur et naïveté' albeit with some artfulness – a song ('bien chantée'), accompanied by a
pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as "pinched", and sometimes roughly as "plucked") is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument : * On bowed ...
effect 'un sentiment assez campagnard'. Poulenc wrote that when he heard this piece for the first time in February 1914 he was overwhelmed: "un univers harmonique s'ouvrait soudain devant moi et ma musique n'a jamais oublie ce premier baiser d'amour". He added that the piece should be played at the metronome marking, without
rubato Tempo rubato (, , ; 'free in the presentation', literally ) is a musical term referring to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. Rub ...
. ;''Danse villageoise'' (''Village dance'') A minor, 2/4; ''Allegro risoluto'' (dedicated to Yvonne de Montesquieu)
''Danse villageoise'', in a more traditional
ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples includ ...
, provides a slightly heavy-footed contrast and illustrates the rustic spirit of Chabrier yet with precise polyphony (with some elements of
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's Piano Sonata No. 25). The decisive scherzo is in A minor while the hesitating trio in the major. ;''Improvisation'' B-flat major, 6/8, 2/4; ''Andantino – Appassionato e con impeto – molto con impeto – moderato'' (dedicated to Marguerite Gagne)
'Fantasque et passionnée' with the greatest variety of rhythms, the hints of methods which become common in Debussy (e.g. four dotted quavers in a bar of 6/8): the bars become at times ¾ or 2/4. Although entitled an improvisation, it is in fact in a strict
sonata form Sonata form (also ''sonata-allegro form'' or ''first movement form'') is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle ...
. ;''Menuet pompeux'' (''Pompous minuet'') G minor, 3/4; ''Allegro franco – meno mosso e molto dolce e grazioso'' (dedicated to Gabrielle Petitdemange)
''Menuet pompeux'', despite some arresting harmonies, shows Chabrier looking backward rather than forward. If the minuet is more like an
Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a vas ...
dance, the G major trio is a nod to the 18th century. ;''Scherzo-valse'' D major, 9/16, 3/8; ''Vivo'' (dedicated to Mina de Gabriac)
A spirited conclusion to the set, although again the trio allows a respite from the energy of the infectious ''joie de vivre'' of the main section. Poulenc criticised those who take this piece faster than dotted crotchet = 192 (as
Ricardo Viñes Ricardo Viñes y Roda (, ca, Ricard Viñes i Roda, ; 5 February 1875 – 29 April 1943) was a Spanish pianist. He gave the premieres of works by Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Falla and Albéniz. He was the piano teacher of the composer Francis Pou ...
played it). The titles appear not to be Chabrier's own, but were provided by his publishers.


''Suite pastorale''

Between 1881 and 1888 Chabrier orchestrated ''Idylle'', ''Danse villageoise'', ''Sous-bois'' and ''Scherzo-valse'' to form the ''Suite pastorale''. The suite was first performed on 4 November 1888 by the Association artistique d'
Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
, conducted by Chabrier himself.Delage R. ''Emmanuel Chabrier''. Fayard, Paris, 1999. In the orchestral version ''Idylle'' is a semi-tone higher. The instrumentation is 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 1 oboe, 2 clarinets in B♭ and A, 2 bassoons - 2 horns in F and E, 2 cornets à pistons in C, 3 trombones (Scherzo-Valse only) - timpani, bass drum, triangle - harp, strings.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pieces Pittoresques Compositions by Emmanuel Chabrier Compositions for solo piano Suites (music) 1880 compositions