Ballet Composer Profile: Léo Delibes
Name: Clement Philibert Léo Delibes
Birth: 21st February 1836 (Saint-Germain-du-Val, France)
Death: 16th January 1891 (Paris, France)
Musical Study:
Having moved to Paris after his father’s death when he was 12, Delibes was accepted into the Pars Conservatoire where he studied: music theory with Antoine-Jules Tariot, piano with Félix Le Couppey, organ with François Benoist, harmony with François Bazin and, at eighteen, composition with Adolphe Adam.
Of course, Adolphe Adam wrote the music for two well-known ballets- Giselle (1841) and Le Corsaire (1856). Therefore as Delibes studied with Adam, some similarities in their approach to composing music for dance can be found. For example, in regards to form, Delibes’ ballets scarcely differ to that of Giselle, with an abundance of national dances rather than suites of dances (as seen in later ballets), reflecting the style and interest of the time. Additionally, like Adam, Delibes was fond of relating themes with characters in the ballet, though this can sometimes be overlooked nowadays, as often the choreography has been changed from the original causing these music-character connections to sometimes disappear a little.
Ballet Scores:
La Source (1866)
This 3 Act ballet score was written in collaboration with Polish composer, Ludwig Minkus. It was Delibes’ first ballet commission, and so, once it was clear that he had an affinity in writing music for dance, it led to more opportunities within this field. This included a piece of music called ‘Les Pas des Fleurs’ for the revival of Adam’s ballet ‘Le Corsaire', which was met with such admiration, he was offered his first solo ballet commission in 1867- to compose the entire score for the ballet Coppelia.
Coppelia (1870)
Generally Coppelia is seen as Delibes most successful contribution to the ballet repertoire, and is still performed regularly by ballet companies across the world. At the time, although the ballet was immediately seen as a triumph, the enchantment was soon dissipated by the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. After only eighteen performances, the sixteen year old Italian dancer who had created the heroine, Swanilda, died during the siege of Paris.
Sylvia (1876)
As a complete ballet, Sylvia is performed less regularly than Coppelia, however the music was extremely highly regarded at the time, and still is. It seems that the poverty in this ballet come from its weaker synopsis, rather than the music or the dancing. In fact the historian, Ivor Guest stated that if it hadn’t been for the score, Sylvia as a ballet would have faded into obscurity and been swiftly forgotten, along with so many other ballets in that period. Therefore, it is likely that the music is one of the main reasons that this ballet has been revived so continuously over the past century.
Tchaikovsky absolutely fell in love with the score for Sylvia, expressing that it is “the first ballet in which the music constitutes not just the main, but the sole interest. What charm, what grace, what melodic, rhythmic and harmonic richness. I was ashamed. If I had known this music earlier, then of course I would not have written Swan Lake.”
I think this goes to prove just how successful Delibes was at writing music for dance. However, unfortunately, after Sylvia, he turned away from ballet, in favour of writing music for Opera which never quite matched the standard he had reached within the world of ballet.
And yet, his music was still used within new ballet works, including…
Fadetta (1934)
This was first presented by the graduating class of the Leningrad Choreographic School. There is little known or hared about this ballet, other than it used the music from the ballet Sylvia, and was revived in 1936 and 1952.
Sylvia Pas de Deux (1950)
This classical pas de deux was choreographed by George Balanchine specifically for the sublime technical dancing of Maria Tallchief, where once again the music of Delibes’ Sylvia brought back to life.
