Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze” is one of the last major works made by New York City Ballet's founding choreographer and balletmaster-in-chief, George Balanchine. It is set to Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze (Dances of the League of David),[1] Op. 6 (1837). The idea for setting this piano work very likely came from a work created by Robert Joffrey for his own Joffrey Ballet Company, the premier of which took place at the City Center Theater in the late 1970s. Joffrey, in turn, received his inspiration from Jonathan Watts, a protege of Joffrey's and director of the Joffrey apprentice company, who, at the suggestion of pianist Neil Stannard, created a ballet titled Evening Dialogues to this same score. This initial version of the Schumann cycle was featured on tour with the Joffrey second company in the mid 1970a.
The premiere took place on June 19, 1980, at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center. A series of dances for four couples, the ballet draws on the life of Schumann, in particular his reunion with Clara Wieck after a 16-month estrangement in the year of its composition.
Original cast
- Karin von Aroldingen
- Suzanne Farrell
- Kay Mazzo
- Heather Watts
- Adam Lüders
- Jacques d'Amboise
- Ib Andersen
- Peter Martins
See also
Footnotes
- ^ An imaginary society of artists created by Schumann the members of which represent various aspects of his personality but united in the common aim of fight the Philistines, those who oppose art or innovation in the arts. During his adult life Schumann headed a circle that included much of the Germany musical elite, including Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms.
Reviews
- NY Times by Jack Anderson, November 21, 1980
External links
- Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze” on the Balanchine Trust website
- v
- t
- e
- A la Françaix
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Agon
- Allegro Brillante
- Apollo
- Le baiser de la fée
- Le Bal
- Ballade
- Ballo della Regina
- Bayou
- Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
- Bourrée fantasque
- Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet
- Bugaku
- Chaconne
- Le chant du rossignol
- Circus Polka
- Clarinade
- Concertino
- Concerto Barocco
- Coppélia
- Cortège Hongrois
- Divertimento Brillante
- Divertimento from "Le Baiser De La Fée"
- Divertimento No. 15
- Don Quixote
- Donizetti Variations
- Duo Concertant
- Élégie
- L'enfant et les sortilèges
- Episodes
- Etude for Piano
- The Firebird
- The Four Temperaments
- Garland Dance
- Gounod Symphony
- Haieff Divertimento
- Harlequinade
- Hungarian Gypsy Airs
- Ivesiana
- Jeu de cartes
- Jewels
- Kammermusik No. 2
- Liebeslieder Walzer
- Meditation
- Metamorphoses
- Metastaseis and Pithoprakta
- Monumentum pro Gesualdo
- Movements for Piano and Orchestra
- Mozartiana
- Noah and the Flood
- The Nutcracker
- Orpheus
- Pas de Dix
- Pas de Trois (Glinka)
- Pas de Trois (Minkus)
- Pavane
- Prodigal Son
- Pulcinella
- Ragtime I
- Ragtime II
- Raymonda Variations
- Requiem Canticles
- Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
- Scherzo à la Russe
- Scotch Symphony
- Serenade
- The Seven Deadly Sins
- Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
- La Sonnambula
- Sonatine
- La source
- Square Dance
- Stars and Stripes
- The Steadfast Tin Soldier
- Stravinsky Violin Concerto
- Swan Lake
- Sylvia Pas de Deux
- Symphonie Concertante
- Symphony in C
- Symphony in Three Movements
- Tango
- Tarantella
- Theme and Variations
- Le Tombeau de Couperin
- Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
- Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
- Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
- Tzigane
- Union Jack
- La Valse
- Valse-Fantaisie
- Variations
- Variations for Orchestra
- Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir
- Vienna Waltzes
- Walpurgisnacht Ballet
- Western Symphony
- Who Cares?
- Zenobia