- Parade (ballet)
"Parade" is a
ballet withmusic byErik Satie and a one-act scenario byJean Cocteau . The ballet was composed 1916-1917 forSerge Diaghilev 'sBallets Russes . The ballet premiered onMay 18 1917 at theTheatre du Chatelet inParis , with costumes and sets designed byPablo Picasso , achoreography byLéonide Massine (who was also dancing), and the orchestra conducted byErnest Ansermet .The idea of the ballet seems to have come from Jean Cocteau: he had heard Satie's
Trois morceaux en forme de poire ("Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear") in a concert, and thought of writing a ballet scenario to such music. Satie welcomed the idea of composing ballet music (which he had never done until that moment), but refused to allow any of his previous compositions to be used for the occasion: so Cocteau started writing a scenario (the theme being a publicityparade in which three groups of circus artists try to attract an audience to an indoor performance), to which Satie composed the music (with some additions to the orchestral score by Cocteau, see below).Work on the production started in the middle of the
First World War , with Jean Cocteau travelling back and forth to the war front in Belgium until shortly before the premiere. The most difficult part of the creative process, however, seems to have been to convinceMisia Edwards in supporting the idea of having this ballet performed by theBallets Russes : she had very long toes, but was trusted completely bySergei Diaghilev for advice on his productions. A first version of the music (for piano) was dedicated to Misia and performed in 1916.Eventually, after aborting some other plans (and some more intrigue),
Sergei Diaghilev 's support was won, and thechoreography was entrusted toLéonide Massine , who had recently become the first dancer of theBallets Russes and lover of Diaghilev, replacingVaslav Nijinsky who had leftParis shortly before the outbreak of the war. The set and costume design was entrusted to the then cubist painterPablo Picasso . The poetGuillaume Apollinaire described "Parade" as "a kind of surrealism" (une sorte de surréalisme) when he wrote the program note in 1917, thus coining the word three years beforesurrealism emerged as an art movement in Paris.The ballet was and is remarkable from several viewpoints:
* First time collaboration of Satie andPicasso , also first time either of them worked on a ballet, so also the first time they collaborated withDiaghilev and the Ballets Russes.
* Some ofPicasso 'scubist costume s were in solid cardboard, allowing the dancers only a minimum of movement.
* The score contained several "noise-making" instruments (typewriter, foghorn, an assortment of milk bottles,...), which had been added by Jean Cocteau (a bit to the dismay of Satie). It is supposed that such revolutionary additions by Cocteau showed his eagerness to create asucces de scandale , comparable to that ofIgor Stravinsky 's Le Sacre du Printemps which had been premiered by the Ballets Russes some years before. Although Parade was quite revolutionary, bringing common street entertainments to the elite, being scorned by audiences and being praised by critics, nonetheless many years later Stravinsky could still pride himself in never having been topped in the matter ofsucces de scandale .The
Ragtime contained in Parade would later be adapted for piano solo, and attained considerable success as a separate piano piece.The premiere of the ballet resulted a number of scandals, including a
classical music riot . According to the painterGabriel Fournier , one of the most memorable scandals was an altercation between Cocteau, Satie, and an unnamed music critic who gave "Parade" an unfavorable review. Satie had written a postcard to the critic which read: "Sir and Dear Friend, You are only an arse, but an arse without music. Signed, Erik Satie." The critic sued Satie, and at the trial Cocteau was arrested and beaten by police for repeatedly yelling "arse" in the courtroom. Satie was given a sentence of eight days in jail. [Austin, William W. Music in the 20th Century. New York. W. W. Norton, 1966. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 64-18776]Notes
External links
* [http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/scores/bgz3235/index.html Full score] of this piece
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