Daphnis et Chloé

Quick Facts

• A “symphonie chorégraphique” (choreographic symphony) in 3 tableaux commissioned by Serge Diaghilev for the Ballet Russes in 1909:
  1. Une prairie а la lisiére d’un bois sacré (A meadow at the edge of a sacred grove)
  2. Camp des pirates (Pirate camp)
  3. Paysage du première 1er tableau, а la fin de la nuit (Landscape of the first 1st tableau, at the end of the night)
• Based on the ancient pastoral novel by Longus set on the Greek isle of Lesbos
• The ballet, choreographed by Michel Fokine, premiered in 1912 but was unsuccessful due to lack of rehearsal and being overshadowed by the premiere (and subsequent scandal) of Debussy’s L’après-midi d’un faune.¹

About the Piece

• Shortly after the lackluster premiere of the ballet, Ravel published two concert suites deriving music from the original score.
  • The three sections of Suite No. 1, comprising music from the first two tableaux:
    1. Nocturne
    2. Interlude
    3. Danse guerrière (warrior dance)
  • The three sections of Suite No. 2, comprising music from the ballet’s third tableau:
    1. Lever de jour (sunrise)
    2. Pantomime
    3. Danse générale
• Ravel later described the piece as…

“a great choreographic symphony . . . a vast musical fresco, less scrupulous in questions of archeology than faithful to the Greece of my dreams, which identifies quite willingly with that imagined and depicted by late eighteenth-century French artists. The work is constructed symphonically according to a strict tonal plan, by means of a small number of motifs, whose development assures the symphonic homogeneity of the work.”

• Fun fact – Daphnis et Chloé is scored for the largest ensemble Ravel ever wrote for and represents the closest work to a symphony that he ever completed.²

1. Barbara L. Kelly, “Ravel, (Joseph) Maurice,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 24, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000052145.
2. James M. Keller, “Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé,” San Francisco Symphony (2018), accessed August 24, 2023, https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/R/Ravel-Daphnis-et-Chloe.