''Jack in the Box'' (sometimes seen as ''Jack-in-the-Box'') is a work written by Erik Satie in 1899 for a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

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 ...

(Satie called it a "clownerie", and also a "suite anglaise")Classical Archives
/ref> to a scenario by the illustrator Jules Depaquit. Satie gave it an English title because English phrases were considered fashionable in Parisian society at the time. Satie's intention was to score it also for

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. However, after he wrote the piano score, he lost it some time after 1905. Satie believed it had gone missing on a bus and that it would never be found, but after his death it was found in his squalid apartment in

Arcueil Arcueil () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Name The name Arcueil was recorded for the first time in 1119 as ''Arcoloï'', and later in the 12th ...

(some sources say it was hidden inside a notebook lodged down the back of his decrepit piano),Discogs
/ref> along with the lost score for his marionette opera ''

Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, ...

''. Depaquit's scenario has not survived. James Harding, Liner notes to HMV Greensleeves recording ESD 7069, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by

John Lanchbery John Arthur Lanchbery OBE (15 May 1923 – 27 February 2003) was an English-Australian composer and conductor, famous for his ballet arrangements. He served as the Principal Conductor of the Royal Ballet from 1959 to 1972, Principal Conductor ...

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 ...

had approached Satie for ballet music in 1922 and again in 1924, but nothing was forthcoming either time. Satie died in July 1925, and in June 1926, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his birth, ''Jack in the Box'' was produced by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, with choreography by George Balanchine, settings by

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France (region), Île-de-Franc ...

, and the music orchestrated by Satie's friend

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

.Ballets Russes
/ref> The ballet received mainly negative comments: French critics called it "banal", while English critics decried it as "pert but hollow." It was also published as a short suite for solo piano in the form in which Satie left it. The piano and orchestral versions have both received numerous recordings. The work has three short movements, lasting less than seven minutes. All the movements are in C major, and all undergo many meter changes between and , the changes often lasting for only a single measure at a time. The music is said to exhibit a bouncy humour and an appealing naivete. It has perky, jaunty rhythms and blurred harmonies.

References

External sources

* {{Authority control 1899 compositions 1926 ballet premieres Compositions by Erik Satie Ballets by Erik Satie Ballets by George Balanchine Ballets Russes productions

Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conse ...

Compositions for solo piano Compositions for symphony orchestra Orchestral suites