Escales (Ports of Call)

• Ibert composed Escales in 1922.¹
• Escales is a descriptive symphonic suitebased on geographic locations, in the tradition of Saint-Saëns’ Suite algérienne and Chabrier’s España.²
• Escales follows the route of an imagined voyage in the Mediterranean. It begins in Rome and Palermo, travels to Tunis, and ends in Valencia.³
• Ibert served in the naval officer during WWI,⁴ and he may have visited these ports during his service. 

Movements

1. Rome-Palerme. Calme  
2. Tunis-Nefta. Modéré, très rythmé  
3. Valencia. Animé  

1. Alexandra Laederich, “Ibert, Jacques,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 16, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000013675.
2. Joseph Stevenson, “Jacques Ibert: Escales (Ports of Call), suite for orchestra,” AllMusic, accessed March 16, 2021, https://www.allmusic.com/composition/escales-ports-of-call-suite-for-orchestra-mc0002657723. 
3. Ibid.
4. Alexandra Laederich, “Ibert, Jacques,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 16, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000013675.