Les Animaux modèles, FP 111, is a ballet dating from 1940 to 1942 with music by Francis Poulenc. It was the third and final ballet that he composed and was staged at the Paris Opéra in 1942, with choreography by Serge Lifar, who also danced in the 1942 premiere. The themes of the ballet are drawn from the Fables of Jean de La Fontaine.
History The sections of the ballet are based on stories from Jean de La Fontaine's Fables.Schmidt, p. 268 These tales had inspired works by French composers from Lully to Gounod, Offenbach and Saint-Saëns.Simeone, Nigel. "Making Music in Occupied Paris", The Musical Times, Volume 147, Number 1894, Spring, 2006, pp. 23–50 Its title was provided by the poet Paul Eluard, as he had done for several other works by Poulenc at his request.Schmidt, p. 273
Poulenc began work on his ballet in 1940, completing a piano score in September 1941 and orchestrating it between October 1941 and June 1942. He wrote his own scenario for the ballet, making the various animals more human-like than usual. In his words, "The grasshopper has become an ageing ballerina, the ant an old provincial housemaid, the amorous lion a pimp, Death an elegant woman – a kind of duchess with a mask".Quoted by Hugon The commentator Gérald Hugon observes:
Hugon comments that all these influences are absorbed by Poulenc and turned into his own style. At the time of the premiere, Poulenc's friend and colleague Arthur Honegger wrote that "the influences that have worked upon him – Chabrier, Satie, Stravinsky – are now completely assimilated. Listening to his music you think – it's Poulenc."Schmidt, p. 275
The company for the premiere was headed by Serge Lifar (who also choreographed the work) and Yvette Chauviré. Paris was under Nazi occupation, and the many German officers in the audience failed to spot the composer's defiant incorporation of the anti-German song "Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine" in his score.Poulenc, pp. 207–208 Poulenc later reduced the full score to a shorter orchestral suite.
Poulenc dedicated the ballet to the memory of his childhood friend Raymonde Linossier (1897–1930).Score at IMSLP: https://imslp.org/wiki/Les_animaux_mod%C3%A8les%2C_FP_111_(Poulenc%2C_Francis) A 1944 edition cites the dedication to Poulenc's long-time friend and copyist Yevgeny Gunst.Bibliothèque nationale de France: Les Animaux modèles. Ballet en un acte d'après des fables de La Fontaine. Argument et musique de Francis Poulenc.
Structure Ballet The action is set in rural Burgundy, during the 18th century. Petit jour (Dawn): très calme L'ours et les deux compagnons (The Bear and the Travelers): très animé La cigale et la fourmi (The Ant and the Grasshopper): très allant Le lion amoureux (The Lion in Love): passionnément animé L'homme entre deux âges et ses deux maîtresses (The Man with two Mistresses): prestissimo La mort et le bûcheron (Death and the woodcutter): très lent Le combat des deux coqs (The battle of the two roosters): très modéré Le repas de midi (Lunchtime).
Orchestral suiteA performance on YouTube Petit jour: très calme Le lion amoureux: passionnément animé. L'homme entre deux âges et ses deux maîtresses: prestissimo La mort et le bûcheron: très lent Le combat des deux coqs: très modéré Le repas de midi
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