| Valses nobles et sentimentales | |
|---|---|
| Waltzes byMaurice Ravel | |
.jpg) Ravel in 1913 | |
| Published | 1911 (1911) |
| Movements | eight |
| Scoring | piano (also: orchestra) |
TheValses nobles et sentimentales (French: "Noble and Sentimental Waltzes") are a suite ofwaltzes composed byMaurice Ravel. Its title was chosen in homage toFranz Schubert, who had released two collections of waltzes in 1823 entitledValses nobles andValses sentimentales. The originalpiano version were published in 1911; an orchestration by the composer was released the following year.
The set are epigraphed by a quotation from Ravel's friend, theSymbolist poetHenri de Régnier: "…le plaisir délicieux et toujours nouveau d'une occupation inutile" ('the delicious and forever-new pleasure of a useless occupation'), derived from his 1904 bookLes recontres de Monsieur de Bréot.
The suite contains an eclectic blend ofImpressionist andModernist music, which is especially evident in the orchestrated version.
Ravel was intrigued by the waltz genre. By 1906, he had started composing what later would becomeLa valse, in which he tried to epitomise all the genre encompassed. In 1911, prior to the 1920 publication ofLa valse, he published the piano version of his suite of eightValses nobles et sentimentales. The work was premièred on 9 May 1911 by its dedicateeLouis Aubert at a recital of new works whose composers were not identified. This recital was sponsored by theSociété musicale indépendante, to promote the works of more adventurous composers, without "burdening" critics with the attached labels of authorship. The idea was proposed by composer Charles Koechlin.[1] This was in theory supposed to encourage the critics to evaluate what they actually heard rather than simply judging the piece by the name of the composer. The collection of pieces was not well received.[2][3] When the votes were tallied, the nominated composers includedErik Satie,Charles Koechlin,Vincent d'Indy and evenZoltán Kodály, but "a minute majority," Ravel recalled, "ascribed the paternity of theValses to me." The rest of the concert included works byAntoine Mariotte,Léo Sachs,Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht,Henri Büsser,Édouard Mignan,Hector Fraggi,Lucien Wurmser andFrançois Couperin.[4][5]
The following year an orchestration of theValses was published. This work indicated that the composer wanted to create a 'clearer' orchestral sound than had been the case for the precedingMa mère l'Oye.
The orchestratedballet version of theValses nobles et sentimentales was namedAdélaïde, ou le langage des fleurs (Adelaide: or, The Language of Flowers). There is a striking resemblance between this story and the plot ofGiuseppe Verdi'sLa traviata based on the novel and playLa Dame aux Camélias byAlexandre Dumasfils.
That Ravel wanted to identify withFranz Schubert is clear. As he said himself, "The title sufficiently indicates my intention to compose a succession of waltzes, after Schubert's example."[2] However, unlike Schubert (who actually wrote separately-groupednoble and sentimental waltzes that, while originally published separately, are frequently published together), Ravel did not differentiate the noble waltzes from the sentimental ones. Other than the name and the waltz form, there is little similarity between Ravel's and Schubert's works.
A typical performance of all eight waltzes takes 15 minutes. They are marked:
The orchestration of the piece is written for an orchestra consisting of twoflutes, twooboes,cor anglais, twoclarinets (in B♭ and A), twobassoons, fourhorns (in F), twotrumpets, threetrombones,tuba,timpani,tambourine,cymbals,snare drum,glockenspiel,triangle,bass drum,celesta, twoharps, andstrings.
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