Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction by Peter Dickinson
- Part I Reports from Paris, 1929–34
- Part II Letters to Nadia Boulanger, 1929–74
- Part III Selections from Berkeley's Later Writings and Talks, 1943–82
- 1 Britten and his String Quartet [no. 1] (1943)
- 2 Modern French Ballet Music (1946)
- 3 British Music Today (1949)
- 4 Britten's Spring Symphony (1950)
- 5 Poulenc's Piano Concerto (1950)
- 6 Mr Lennox Berkeley on the Composer's Need to Hear his own Works (1959)
- 7 Gabriel Fauré (1962)
- 8 The Sound of Words (1962)
- 9 Concert-going in 1963 (1962)
- 10 Britten's Characters (1963)
- 11 Francis Poulenc: Obituary (1963)
- 12 Truth in Music (1966)
- 13 Lennox Berkeley Describes his Setting of the Magnificat (1968)
- 14 Lili Boulanger (1968)
- 15 Last Week's Broadcast Music [I] (1969)
- 16 Last Week's Broadcast Music [II] (1969)
- 17 Charles Burney's Tour (1970)
- 18 Lennox Berkeley Writes about Alan Rawsthorne (1971)
- 19 On Criticism (1972)
- 20 Berkeley as Song-writer (1973)
- 21 Maurice Ravel (1978)
- 22 Stravinsky: A Centenary Tribute (1982)
- 23 Bid the World Good-Night (1981)
- Part IV Interviews with Berkeley, 1973–8
- Part V Extracts from Berkeley's Diaries, 1966–82
- Part VI Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
- Part VII Memorial Address by Sir John Manduell
- Catalogue of Works
- Bibliography
- Index of Works by Berkeley
- General Index
2 - Modern French Ballet Music (1946)
from Part III - Selections from Berkeley's Later Writings and Talks, 1943–82
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction by Peter Dickinson
- Part I Reports from Paris, 1929–34
- Part II Letters to Nadia Boulanger, 1929–74
- Part III Selections from Berkeley's Later Writings and Talks, 1943–82
- 1 Britten and his String Quartet [no. 1] (1943)
- 2 Modern French Ballet Music (1946)
- 3 British Music Today (1949)
- 4 Britten's Spring Symphony (1950)
- 5 Poulenc's Piano Concerto (1950)
- 6 Mr Lennox Berkeley on the Composer's Need to Hear his own Works (1959)
- 7 Gabriel Fauré (1962)
- 8 The Sound of Words (1962)
- 9 Concert-going in 1963 (1962)
- 10 Britten's Characters (1963)
- 11 Francis Poulenc: Obituary (1963)
- 12 Truth in Music (1966)
- 13 Lennox Berkeley Describes his Setting of the Magnificat (1968)
- 14 Lili Boulanger (1968)
- 15 Last Week's Broadcast Music [I] (1969)
- 16 Last Week's Broadcast Music [II] (1969)
- 17 Charles Burney's Tour (1970)
- 18 Lennox Berkeley Writes about Alan Rawsthorne (1971)
- 19 On Criticism (1972)
- 20 Berkeley as Song-writer (1973)
- 21 Maurice Ravel (1978)
- 22 Stravinsky: A Centenary Tribute (1982)
- 23 Bid the World Good-Night (1981)
- Part IV Interviews with Berkeley, 1973–8
- Part V Extracts from Berkeley's Diaries, 1966–82
- Part VI Interviews with Performers, Composers, Family and Friends, 1990–91
- Part VII Memorial Address by Sir John Manduell
- Catalogue of Works
- Bibliography
- Index of Works by Berkeley
- General Index
Summary
Illustrated radio talk broadcast 19 July 1946 by the BBC Overseas Programme Eastern Service under the title of ‘Descriptive Music: the Ballet’. The producer was Basil Douglas.
The ballet has always played an important part in French cultural life, since the days when Louis XIV danced in ballets composed and devised by Lully, right up to this year, when a French ballet company came to London having formed itself and created an entirely new repertoire of ballets in spite of the war and the occupation of the country. That, I think, shows that the tradition is very strong. During the early part of this century, however, it received a new stimulus from Diaghilev's Russian Ballet which began its career in Paris in 1909; it had an immediate and enormous effect on composers and painters in all European countries and the French were the first to react to its influence. Diaghilev on his side was anxious to use French talent and in 1911 he commissioned Daphnis et Chloé from Ravel. I want to spend a little time considering this ballet because it's not only Ravel's largest orchestral work, but it is also one of the most considerable pieces of ballet music in existence. At this point, I feel obliged to ask myself how often one can call a ballet of this kind descriptive music. Well, I think one can say that the music acts as a kind of landscape; the mood and emotional climate is created by a musical description of the idyllic scene in which the action is set.
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- Lennox Berkeley and FriendsWritings, Letters and Interviews, pp. 93 - 96Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2012