''Aubade'' ( FR 051a, and FP051b for the piano reduction), a ''choreographic concerto'' for piano and 18 instruments, is a work of Francis Poulenc premiered in 1929. It was conceived as a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, but is more often played as a chamber piano concerto.

History

aubade An aubade is a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, intended for performance in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as "a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or ev ...

is a morning courting song, vs. a serenade in the evening. Here the action begins one morning, and ends the next day at dawn. Poulenc's work was originally conceived as

ballet music Ballet as a music form progressed from simply a complement to dance, to a concrete compositional form that often had as much value as the dance that went along with it. The dance form, originating in France during the 17th century, began as a thea ...

, but is today regarded as a piano concerto. The work was premiered as a ballet on 18 June 1929 at the Noailles, which determined the size of the orchestra Poulenc could employ. The choreographer was

Bronislava Nijinska Bronislava Nijinska (; pl, Bronisława Niżyńska ; russian: Бронисла́ва Фоми́нична Нижи́нская, Bronisláva Fomínična Nižínskaja; be, Браніслава Ніжынская, Branislava Nižynskaja; – Febr ...

. A few months later, it was revived at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in the choreography this time by George Balanchine, of which Poulenc disapproved. Poulenc himself designed the scenario of the ballet whose theme is the solitude of women. The goddess Diana is the heroine. The action begins in a clearing. Diana's companions awaken little by little. Diana enters the scene, tormented by the chastity imposed on her. Her companions dress her then give her a bow: the hunt must serve her as a distraction. A solo of Diana follows, before she rejects the bow and goes into the forest, desperate. Her companions try to console her, but Diana goes hunting, alone. Her companions fall asleep.

Structure

# ''Toccata (lento et pesante)'' # ''Récitatif, (larghetto)'' # ''Rondeau, (allegro)'' # ''Presto'' # ''Récitatif (larghetto)'' # ''Andante (andante con moto)'' # ''Allegro féroce'' # ''Conclusion (adagio)''

Scoring

* solo

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 keybo ...

, 2 flutes, 2

oboe 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. ...

s (2nd doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

in F,

trumpet 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 ...

, 2

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

s, 2

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

s, 2

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

es, 3

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 ...

. * The execution time is about 21 minutes.

Sources

''Guide de la musique symphonique''
François-René Tranchefort, dir. and rédacteur, series "les indispensables de la musique", éd.

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

1986, (p. 586-587)

External links

Francis Poulenc Aubade ~ Concerto choréographique
on YouTube

* ttp://imslp.org/wiki/Aubade,_FP_51_(Poulenc,_Francis) Aubade, FP 51 (Poulenc, Francis)on IMSLP
Poulenc: Aubade & Sinfonietta
on Hyperion {{Portal bar, music, France Compositions by Francis Poulenc 1929 compositions Piano concertos Ballets by Bronislava Nijinska Ballets by George Balanchine 1929 ballet premieres