French Connections

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice  (1897)

First Performance: Paris on May 18, 1897, at a concert for the Société Nationale de Musique, with Dukas himself conducting.

FVSO Premiere

Aside from being a composer, Dukas was a prominent music critic, and teacher. He was well known for his brilliant orchestration and extreme perfectionism, which famously led him to destroy most of his own manuscripts. His legacy rests primarily on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a brilliant symphonic poem that brings a magical story to life using dramatic instrumental colors. The piece achieved permanent pop-culture immortality when Walt Disney cast Mickey Mouse as the overwhelmed apprentice in the 1940 animated masterpiece Fantasia.

Charles Gounod (1818–1893) French

Faust Opera, (1859), Ballet Music, (1869)

First Performance: Opera, March 19, 1859, at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. With added Ballet Music, March 3, 1869, Paris Opéra..

FVSO Performances: 06/22/96 (Eells)

Gounod was a foundational figure in 19th-century French opera, whose global reputation was secured by his masterwork Faust. The opera’s famous Ballet Music was actually added a decade later, in 1869, to satisfy an ironclad rule at the Paris Opéra requiring all grand productions to include a lavish dance sequence. Appearing at the beginning of Act V during the wild “Walpurgis Night” scene, this highly energetic, 7-movement suite features a parade of legendary historical beauties—including Cleopatra and Helen of Troy—summoned by the devil Méphistophélès to distract a guilt-ridden Faust. Packed with infectious waltzes and brilliant orchestral colors, the suite has long since outgrown the opera house to become a standalone favorite in concert halls

Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) French

Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50 (1887)

First Performance: Orchestral version, November 25, 1888, at the Société des Nouveaux-Concerts (popularly known as the Concerts Lamoureux), conducted by the prominent French conductor and violinist Charles Lamoureux. Choral version, November 28, 1888, a concert hosted by the Société Nationale de Musique, an organization dedicated to promoting new French music.

FVSO Performances: Premiere with choir. Orchestra soli: 05/13/95 (Eells)

Fauré is celebrated for his elegant melodies, refined harmonies, and a distinct style that bridged late Romanticism and modernism. His legendary Pavane was originally composed as a purely orchestral piece but Fauré added a choral part in 1888 after his cousin, Countess Greffulhe, suggested adding text. He utilized a poem by Robert de Montesquiou, creating a delicate, slightly cynical dialogue between the singers that mimics the flirtations and rhythmic stepping of a stately 16th-century Spanish court dance. Driven by a hauntingly beautiful, fluid flute melody accompanied by pizzicato strings, the vocal version elegantly cloaks the poem’s themes of romantic helplessness in an atmosphere of aristocratic, dreamlike melancholy. Fauré would later expand the work into a full “choreographic spectacle” featuring both the chorus and live dancers on July 21, 1891, for a lavish garden party hosted by his patron, Countess Greffulhe.

Translation:

It is Lindor, it is Thyrsis and all our conquerors!

It is the charming parade of our fathers!

See the Myrtils! See the Clitandres!

See the handsome men of old!

Sing of the handsome men, sing of the beautiful women!

Praise the love that unites them!

Drown yourselves in futile quarrels!

Let us swear love again, let us break it off too!

Let us break it off too, let us swear love again!

Ah! How weary we are of cruelties!

Let us love again, let us break it off too!

It is Lindor, it is Thyrsis and all our conquerors!

It is the charming parade of our fathers!

See the Myrtils, see the Clitandres!

See the handsome men of old!

Farewell, Myrtils! Farewell, Clitandres!

Farewell, handsome men of old!

And goodnight, beautiful women!

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) French

Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 (1872)

First Performance: January 19, 1873, Paris Conservatoire, soloist: Auguste Tolbecque, Orchestra of the Société des Concerts under the baton of Édouard Deldevez.

FVSO Performances: 11/20/04 (Eells)

Saint-Saëns was a musical prodigy and celebrated for his technical precision, structural innovation, and mastery of classical form. This concerto diverted from convention by condensing the standard three movements into a single, continuous, and highly integrated musical narrative. Written for cellist and instrument maker Auguste Tolbecque, the piece completely revolutionized how composers wrote for the instrument. Instead of burying the cello beneath a heavy orchestral texture, Saint-Saëns crafted a brilliant, virtuosic dialogue that keeps the cello front and center, alternating between explosive, driving main themes and a famously delicate, feather-light minuet. The premiere was a notable success. It stood as a major victory for the newly formed Société Nationale de Musique, an organization Saint-Saëns helped establish to foster and promote fresh, uniquely French instrumental works.