Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, opus 43

Bacchus et Ariane, Opus 43
ballet in two acts
two suites for orchestra

Written: 1930	Premiered: Paris, May 22, 1931, Phillipe Gaubert cond. Suites: Paris, April 2, 1933 Charles Munch, Paris Symphony
Length: No.1, 17 minutes No.2, 19 minutes	Two acts Act 1 = Suite 1 Act 2 = Suite 2
Publisher: Durand	Dedication: Mme Helene Tony-Jourdan

About this Work:

Bacchus et Ariane is one of Roussel's most popular pieces, and with good reason. The music is energetic, melodic, original, and pictorial in quality; the listener can easily imagine the action accompanying the music. At the same time, the music of Bacchus stands very well on its own, without the ballet; and indeed, that is the form in which it is best known. If you aren't familiar with Bacchus, I highly recommend it to you.

This is the first of two ballets that Roussel based on classical subjects, the other being the unjustly-neglected Aeneas. However, it isn't the first time he was inspired by the ancient Greeks. In 1924 he wrote ballet music for the "conte lyrique" La naissance de la lyre, based on texts of Sophocles, and in 1926 he wrote two sets of songs, both entitled Odes anacreontiques, to ancient texts by Anacreon.

The story of Bacchus et Ariane is based on the events transpiring after Ariadne (Ariane in French) helps Theseus escape from the Minotaur and the labyrinth. Theseus leaves her, and Ariadne finds consolation in the arms of the god Bacchus. The names of the fifteen pieces in the ballet tell the details of the story:

Act One

Introduction
Jeux de Ephebes et des Vierges (Dance of the Young Men and Virgins)
Danse due labyrinthe (Dance of the Labyrinth)
Bacchus apparait (Bacchus appears)
Thesee et ses compagnons se precipitent (Theseus and his Companions Rush Forward)
Danse de Bacchus (Bacchus Dances)

Act Two

Introduction
Reveil d'Ariane (Ariadne's Dream)
Bacchus danse seul (Bacchus Dances Alone)
Le baiser (The Kiss)
L'enchantement dionysiaque (Dionysiac Enchantment)
Le Thiase defile
Danse d'Ariane (Ariadne's Dance)
Danse d'Ariane et de Bacchus (Dance of Ariadne and Bacchus)
Bacchanale

Each act of the ballet became a separate suite. Of the two suites, the second is the more popular, perhaps because it ends on a loud, positive note.

How does it sound?

The dance of Ariadne and Bacchus typifies the rhythmic vitality of this work. Click here to listen to the opening of this dance (64 K WAV file).

Other opinions:

Bacchus in particular is a score of outstanding quality. Stimulated by the classical legend and unhampered by large-scale formal considerations, Roussel provided the dancers with music of great plastic expressiveness which has at once a precise application and a general validity. [Basil Deane]

It is the rhythm above all, it must be emphasized, that gives this Suite its evocative power — a magnificently danceable rhythm, powerful as a natural force. [Georges Beck]

Bacchus and Ariadne can be mentioned in the same breath with Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe and Debussy's Jeux as one of the most important of modern French ballets. [Jim Svejda]

Roussel's habits are for formal shapes not pruned to fit each and every situation. One can listen to this score almost as a piece conceived in absolute manner, without any stage picture in mind. [Arthur Cohn]

How astonishing this sturdy and aggressive strength appears when one considers the personality of the composer, that lean and small-sized Frenchman with his noble and refined features, that modest and elusive artist.... [Harry Halbreich]


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