| Apollo or Apollon musagète | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Choreographer | Adolph Bolm,George Balanchine |
| Music | Igor Stravinsky |
| Libretto | Igor Stravinsky |
| Premiere | 27 April 1928 (Bolm) 12 June 1928 (Balanchine) Washington, D.C. (Bolm) Paris (Balanchine) |
| Original ballet company | Ballets Russes (Balanchine) |
| Characters | Apollo threeMuses:Calliope, the muse of poetry Polyhymnia, the muse ofrhetoric Terpsichore, the muse of dance |
| Design | André Bauchant |
| Setting | Classical antiquity |
| Genre | Neoclassical ballet |
| Type | Classical ballet |
Apollo (originallyApollon musagète and variously known asApollo musagetes,Apolo Musageta, andApollo, Leader of the Muses) is aneoclassical ballet in twotableaux composed between 1927 and 1928 byIgor Stravinsky. It was choreographed in 1928 by twenty-four-year-oldGeorge Balanchine, with the composer contributing thelibretto. The scenery and costumes were designed byAndré Bauchant, with new costumes byCoco Chanel in 1929. The scenery was executed byAlexander Shervashidze, with costumes under the direction of Mme. A. Youkine. The American patron of the artsElizabeth Sprague Coolidge had commissioned the ballet in 1927 for a festival ofcontemporary music to be held the following year at theLibrary of Congress inWashington, D.C.
The story centres onApollo, the Greek god of music, who is visited by threeMuses:Terpsichore, muse of dance and song;Polyhymnia, muse ofmime; andCalliope, muse of poetry. The ballet takesClassical antiquity as its subject, though its plot suggests a contemporary situation. It is concerned with the reinvention of tradition, since its inspiration isBaroque,Classical, or evenpost-baroque/rococo/galant.
It is scored forchamber orchestra of 34string instruments (8.8.6.8.4).
Stravinsky began composingApollo on 16 July 1927 and completed the score on 9 January 1928. He composed for a refined instrumental force, a string orchestra of 34 instrumentalists: 8 first violins, 8 second violins, 6violas, 4 firstcellos, 4 second cellos and 4double basses.
The commission from the Library of Congress and underwritten by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge paid him $1,000 for the piece, which was required to use only six dancers, require a small orchestra, and last no more than half an hour, but allowed him free choice of subject. Stravinsky had been thinking of writing a ballet on an episode inGreek mythology for some time and decided to make Apollo, leader of the muses, its central figure while reducing the number of muses from nine to three. They wereTerpsichore, personifying the rhythm of poetry and the eloquence of gesture as embodied in the dance;Calliope, combining poetry and rhythm; andPolyhymnia, representing mime.
Stravinsky originally titled the workApollon musagète, the French transliteration ofApollo Musagetes. This is one of the manyclassical epithets of Apollo and signifies the god's mythological role as the leader of the Muses and the divine patron of music and dance.
Stravinsky wrote for a homogeneous ensemble of bowed string instruments, substituting contrasts in dynamics for the contrasts intimbre he employed inPulcinella. The ballet takes its inspiration from the grand tradition of French 17th- and 18th-century music, in particular that ofLully, a source Stravinsky returned to when composingAgon in 1957. Theprologue begins with dotted rhythms in the style of aFrench overture. The work relies on a basicrhythmic cell, presented at the beginning of the work, which Stravinsky transforms by subdivisions of successive values that become increasingly complex. Stravinsky revised the score slightly in 1947. In 1963, he indicated he intended to make further changes, particularly with respect to double-dotting many of the dotted-rhythm passages in Baroque style.[1]
The first ballet version of Stravinsky'sApollon musagète, commissioned especially for the Washington festival, premiered on 27 April 1928 with choreography byAdolph Bolm, who also danced the role of Apollo. Adolph Bolm put together a company of dancers for the premiere in a country which, at that time, lacked a readily available source of classically trained dancers.Ruth Page, Berenice Holmes (Gene Kelly's ballet teacher), andElise Reiman were the three Muses andHans Kindler conducted. Stravinsky took no interest in the U.S. performance, and Bolm's choreography is now practically forgotten.[2]
He had reserved the European rights to the score forSergei Diaghilev, whoseBallets Russes production, choreographed by the 24-year-old Balanchine, opened at theThéâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris on 12 June 1928. Stravinsky conducted the performance. The concertmaster wasMarcel Darrieux.[3]
In accordance with Stravinsky's wishes, the style of dancing was essentiallyclassical, and Stravinsky thought of"Apollon musagète" as aballet blanc, that is, costumed in traditional minimal white. Balanchine later said that when he heard Stravinsky's music all he could see was pristine white.[4] The clarity, calm, even serenity of the music makes it seem infinitely remote from the colorful excitement of Stravinsky's earlier ballets. The avoidance of any conflict in the scenario, of any narrative, psychological or expressive intent, was further matched by monochrome costumes for the dancers and the absence of elaborate scenery on stage.[5]
Scenery and costumes for Balanchine's production were by French artistAndré Bauchant. Coco Chanel provided new costumes in 1929. Apollo wore a reworkedtoga with a diagonal cut, a belt, and laced up sandals. The Muses wore traditionaltutus. The decoration was baroque: two large sets, with some rocks and Apollo's chariot.
The scenario involved the birth of Apollo, his interactions with the three Muses, Calliope (poetry), Polyhymnia (mime) and Terpsichore (dance and song), and his ascent as a god toMount Parnassus. The original cast includedSerge Lifar as Apollo, Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore (alternating withAlexandra Danilova),Lubov Tchernicheva as Calliope,Felia Doubrovska as Polyhymnia and Sophie Orlova asLeto, mother of Apollo.[6]
For a revival withMikhail Baryshnikov as Apollo in 1979, he also omitted Apollo's first variation and re-choreographed the ballet's ending. This revision concluded not with Apollo's ascent to Mount Parnassus but rather with moving the "peacock"tableau of the Muses in arabesques of ascending height beside Apollo, which originally happened slightly earlier, to the final pose. In the 1980 staging for theNew York City Ballet, Apollo's first variation was restored.
Suzanne Farrell restored the birth scene for her company in 2001, as didArthur Mitchell for hisDance Theatre of Harlem performance atSymphony Space'sWall to Wall Balanchine in conjunction with City Ballet's Balanchine centennial andIain Webb for TheSarasota Ballet's Tribute to Nureyev performance in February 2015 (staged by Sandra Jennings).
The characters areApollo and three muses:Calliope, the muse of poetry;Polyhymnia, the muse ofrhetoric; andTerpsichore, the muse of dance. The theme is: Apollon musagetes instructs the muses in their arts and leads them toParnassus. The ballet is divided into twotableaux:
| Role | World premiere (1928)[7] | US premiere (1937)[7] | American Ballet Theatre premiere (1943)[7] | New York City Ballet premiere (1951)[8][11] | The Royal Ballet premiere (1966)[9] | The Australian Ballet premiere (1991)[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo | Serge Lifar | Lew Christensen | André Eglevsky | Donald MacLeary | Steven Heathcote | |
| Terpsichore | Alice Nikitina | Elise Reiman | Vera Zorina | Maria Tallchief | Svetlana Beriosova | Lisa Pavane |
| Polyhymnia | Lubov Tchernicheva | Holly Howard | Nora Kaye | Tanaquil Le Clercq | Monica Mason | Miranda Coney |
| Calliope | Felia Dubrovska | Daphne Vane | Rosella Hightower | Diana Adams | Georgina Parkinson | Justine Miles |
Balanchine shortened the title toApollo in the 1950s, which Stravinsky himself came to prefer. Despite the popularly considered Balanchine-Stravinsky Greek link due to Balanchine's later work with Stravinsky scores inOrpheus andAgon, the music forApollo was commissioned by theLibrary of Congress.Orpheus may be considered a sequel toApollo butAgon is a formal plotless ballet whose title in Greek evokes a contest.[12]
In light ofthe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts,New York City Ballet released a recording featuringTaylor Stanley,Tiler Peck, Brittany Pollack, andIndiana Woodward, filmed in 2019.[13]
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