Western Symphony
Encyclopedia
Western Symphony is a ballet made by New York City Ballet
co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine
to music arranged by Hershy Kay
. The premiere, Tuesday, September 7th, 1954, at City Center of Music and Drama
, New York, was conducted by Leon Barzin
and presented in practice clothes without scenery. Scenery by John Boyd and costumes by Karinska
were added in 1955. Lighting was originally by Jean Rosenthal
and subsequently Mark Stanley. Set in the Western United States
, the ballet features cowboys and dance hall girls (or saloon girls).
) outside a saloon. It is almost a satire
on classical ballet
with imitations of Giselle
and Swan Lake
(second movement
). The ballet originally had four movements:
) is for a lead couple and four girls representing horses. This movement is set at night. The cowboy is chasing after the lead girl who eludes him and eventually, after some flirtation, leaves without him.
was removed ca. 1960 due to the complex nature of the male bravura
dancing required.
Although the movements are entitled Allegro, Adagio (Waltz) and Rondo they don't really remain true to their titles. There is an extended adagio Pas de Deux
section in the Allegro; and similarly with the Adagio, the Waltz speeds up to a lively tempo.
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
to music arranged by Hershy Kay
Hershy Kay
Hershy Kay was an American composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He is most noteworthy for the orchestrations of several Broadway shows, and for the ballets he arranged for George Balanchine's New York City Ballet....
. The premiere, Tuesday, September 7th, 1954, at City Center of Music and Drama
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
, New York, was conducted by Leon Barzin
Leon Barzin
Léon Eugene Barzin was a Belgian-born American conductor and founder of the National Orchestral Association , the oldest surviving training orchestra in the United States...
and presented in practice clothes without scenery. Scenery by John Boyd and costumes by Karinska
Barbara Karinska
Varvara Jmoudsky, better known as Barbara Karinska or simply Karinska , was costumer of the New York City Ballet, and the first costume designer ever to win the Capezio Dance Award, for costumes "of visual beauty for the spectator and complete delight for the dancer".However, she designed the...
were added in 1955. Lighting was originally by Jean Rosenthal
Jean Rosenthal
Jean Rosenthal is considered a pioneer in the field of theatrical lighting design. She was born in New York City to Romanian-Jewish immigrants....
and subsequently Mark Stanley. Set in the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, the ballet features cowboys and dance hall girls (or saloon girls).
Setting
The ballet follows no plot but presents several short stories throughout the ballet (similar to SerenadeSerenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
) outside a saloon. It is almost a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
on classical ballet
Classical ballet
Classical Ballet is the most formal of the ballet styles, it adheres to traditional ballet technique. There are variations relating to area of origin, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet...
with imitations of Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
and Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
(second movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
). The ballet originally had four movements:
Allegro
The Allegro is for four cowboys, eight girls (divided into two groups of four) and a lead couple. The lengthy Allegro goes for about ten minutes.Adagio (Waltz)
The Adagio (WaltzWaltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
) is for a lead couple and four girls representing horses. This movement is set at night. The cowboy is chasing after the lead girl who eludes him and eventually, after some flirtation, leaves without him.
Scherzo
The ScherzoScherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
was removed ca. 1960 due to the complex nature of the male bravura
Bravura
In classical music, a bravura is a virtuosic passage intended to show off the skill of a performer, generally as a solo, and often in a cadenza. It can also be used as an adjective , or to refer to a performance of extraordinary virtuosity. The term comes from the Italian language for great skill....
dancing required.
Music
Hershey Kay adapted and arranged the music from traditional Western melodies:- Red River ValleyRed River Valley (song)Red River Valley is a folk song and cowboy music standard of controversial origins that has gone by different names—e.g., "Cowboy Love Song", "Bright Sherman Valley", "Bright Laurel Valley", "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", and "Bright Little Valley"—depending on where it has been sung. ...
- Old Taylor
- Rye WhiskeyRye whiskey (disambiguation)Rye whiskey generally refers to whiskies distilled from rye.In music it may refer to:* "Rye Whiskey", a song recorded by country and western singer Tex Ritter in the 1930's* "Rye Whiskey", a song by folk singer Woody Guthrie...
- Lolly-Too-Dum
- Good Night, Ladies
- Oh, Dem Golden Slippers
- The Girl I Left Behind Me
Although the movements are entitled Allegro, Adagio (Waltz) and Rondo they don't really remain true to their titles. There is an extended adagio Pas de Deux
Pas de deux
In ballet, a pas de deux is a duet in which ballet dancers perform the dance together. It usually consists of an entrée, adagio, two variations , and a coda.-Notable Pas de deux:...
section in the Allegro; and similarly with the Adagio, the Waltz speeds up to a lively tempo.
original
-
-
- First movement: Allegro
-
- Diana AdamsDiana AdamsDiana Adams was an American dancer, leading dancer for the New York City Ballet from 1950 to 1963 and a favorite of George Balanchine, later became a teacher and a dean at the School of American Ballet. Adams was born in Staunton, Virginia and died in San Andreas, California....
-
- and 8 women
- Herbert Bliss
-
- and 4 men
-
-
- Second movement: Adagio
-
- Janet Reed
-
- and 4 women
- Nicholas MagallanesNicholas MagallanesNicholas Magallanes was a first-generation principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Along with Jerome Robbins, Francisco Moncion and Maria Tallchief, Magallanes was among the core group of dancers with which George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein formed the New York City Ballet in 1948...
-
-
- Third movement: Scherzo
-
- Patricia Wilde
-
- and 4 women
- André EglevskyAndré EglevskyAndré Eglevsky was a Russian-born American ballet dancer and teacher.Eglevsky was born in Moscow, but was taken to live in France when he was eight, his mother having decided that his talent as a dancer demanded that he be properly trained...
-
-
- Fourth movement: Rondo
-
- Tanaquil LeClercq
-
- and 4 women
-
- and 4 men
2008 Winter
- First movement: Allegro
- Abi Stafford
- Nilas Martins
- Second movement: Adagio
- Sterling Hyltin
- Albert EvansAlbert Evans (dancer)Albert Evans began his ballet training at Terpsichore Expressions in his native Atlanta and was awarded a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet in 1986...
- Third movement: Rondo
- Teresa Reichlen
- Damian WoetzelDamian WoetzelDamian Woetzel, former ballet star, is a producer and director of dance and music performances. Among his recent projects was directing the first performance of the White House Dance Series in September 2010, which took place in the East Room of the White House and was hosted by First Lady Michelle...
Recording
1959 KAPP records Inc. produced a recording by the New York City Ballet Orchestra, Robert Irving, Conductor. Side one was "Stars and Stripes" and side two was "Western Symphony". KAPP Classics High Fidelity (KCL-9036)television
- Australian television) (Fourth movement Rondo) 1958
- French television, FR3 (Balanchine à Arc et Senans) 1977
- PBS, Dance in America, Balanchine (Fourth movement Rondo) 1984
- PBS, Dance in America, Balanchine in America (excluding the Third movement Scherzo) 1990
- PBS, Dance in America, The Balanchine Celebration (Fourth movement Rondo and finale) 1993
- BBC 2 (London) 1993
video
- The Balanchine Library, The Balanchine Celebration, Part Two (Fourth movement Rondo, 1993), 1996
- Kultur, Balanchine (excerpts from the Second movement Adagio and Fourth movement Rondo), 2004
Reviews
- NY Times by John Martin (dance critic) John Martin, September 8, 1954
- NY Times by John Martin (dance critic) John Martin, October 31, 1962
- NY review by Clive Barnes (critic) Clive Barnes, May 17, 1968
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE0D6123BF930A35751C0A967948260NY Times by Jennifer DunningJennifer DunningJennifer Dunning is a writer and critic for the New York Times on the subjects of dance and ballet. She is the author of the 1985 But First a School: The First Fifty Years of the School of American Ballet, the 1996 Alvin Ailey, a Life in Dance and the 1997 Great Performances: A...
, February 3, 1981] - NY Times by Jack Anderson (dance critic) Jack Anderson, May 28, 2004
- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/arts/dance/12hubb.htmlNY Times by Alastair MacaulayAlastair MacaulayAlastair Macaulay is a dance critic for the New York Times. He was previously chief dance critic at The Times Literary Supplement and chief theater critic of the Financial Times, both of London...
, February 12, 2008]