''The Wise Virgins'' is a one-act

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 ...

based on the biblical

Parable of the Ten Virgins The Parable of the Ten Virgins, also known as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins or the Parable of the ten bridesmaids, is one of the parables of Jesus. According to , ten virgins await a bridegroom; five have brought enough oil f ...

.Vaughan D. ''Frederick Ashton and his Ballets.'' A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977. It was created in 1940 with choreography by Frederick Ashton, to a score of music by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

orchestrated by

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

History

The music of the ballet was the first to be decided. Some years before, at an evening gathering in Cambridge with Boris Ord and

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 ...

(Music Director of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet), the two musicians played some Bach at the piano. One of the pieces was " Sheep may safely graze" which comes from a secular cantata about hunting, ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'', BWV 208. Ashton, wanting to use this music and believing it to be a religious subject, chose the parable of the wise and foolish virgins from the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

25:1-13.Kavanagh J. ''Secret Muses: The Life of Frederick Ashton.'' Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1996, pp. 260-3. According to

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 ...

, it was a later meeting with Patrick Hadley where Hadley and Lambert played Bach’s music which settled the sequence of musical numbers for the ballet.Tierney N. William Walton – His Life and Music. Robert Hale, London, 1984, p. 89. The numbers were selected from Bach’s cantatas and

chorale prelude In music, a chorale prelude or chorale setting is a short liturgical composition for organ using a chorale tune as its basis. It was a predominant style of the German Baroque era and reached its culmination in the works of J.S. Bach, who wrote 46 ...

s. Designer

Rex Whistler Reginald John "Rex" Whistler (24 June 190518 July 1944) was a British artist, who painted murals and society portraits, and designed theatrical costumes. He was killed in action in Normandy in World War II. Whistler was the brother of poet and ...

was chosen for his sympathy with

Baroque art The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

, from his studies in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Ashton was also inspired by 18th century sculpture and architecture, and tried to depict with the dancers' bodies "the swirling, rich, elaborate contortions of the baroque." ''The Wise Virgins'' was first performed on 24 April 1940 by the Vic Wells Company (

The Royal 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 ...

) at Sadler's Wells Theatre, with

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

(the Bride),

(the Bridegroom), Claude Newman (the Father), and Annabel Farjeon (the Mother) in the leading roles. It continued in the company’s repertoire until 1944. A suite of movements from the ballet has been recorded several times since then.

Ballet Suite

The scoring is for 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings. #'' What God hath done, is rightly done'' #'' Lord, hear my longing'' #'' See what His love can do'' #'' Ah! How ephemeral'' #'' Sheep may safely graze'' #'' Praise be to God'' The suite was used for the ballet ''Cantus Firmus'' by the Ballet Vlaamderen, with choreography by Jeanne Brabants, in 1970. The suite has been recorded several times, including: *

HMV Records His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

- Sadler's Wells Orchestra, conducted by William Walton (24 July 1940) * Decca Records - London Philharmonic Orchestra at

Kingsway Hall The Kingsway Hall in Holborn, London, was the base of the West London Mission (WLM) of the Methodist Church, and eventually became one of the most important recording venues for classical music and film music. It was built in 1912 and demolished ...

, conducted by Adrian Boult (19 October 1954) * Capitol Records - Concert Arts Orchestra, conducted by Robert Irving (4 April 1961) * Columbia Records -

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

at the Masonic Auditorium in Cleveland, conducted by Louis Lane (3 April 1970) * EMI Records -

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

at Bedworth Civic Hall, conducted by Louis Frémaux (1–2 September 1976) * Naxos Records - English Northern Philharmonia, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise Virgins, The Ballets by Frederick Ashton Ballets to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach 1940 ballet premieres Arrangements of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach