Jacques Ibert's Divertissement is a six-movement suite for chamber orchestra adapted by the composer in 1930 from incidental music he had written for a production of Eugène Labiche's stage comedy The Italian Straw Hat in 1929. It is among Ibert's best-known works and has been recorded many times.
Background and premiere In the decade after the First World War, Jacques Ibert established himself as a leading French composer, winning France's top musical prize, the and becoming known to a large public for compositions such as (a symphonic poem based on Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol) and (Ports of Call, an orchestral representation of a Mediterranean sea voyage).Laederich, Alexandra, "Ibert, Jacques." Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2010 In 1929 he composed incidental music for a revival of Eugène Labiche's 1851 stage comedy (The Italian Straw Hat) at the .Michel, p. 53 The following year he arranged the score into a six-movement divertissement for small orchestra. The premiere was given at the by the on 30 November 1930, conducted by Vladimir Golschmann.Brussel, Robert. "Les Concerts", Le Figaro, 1 December 1930, pp. 2–3
The music critic of wrote after the premiere:
Score The suite is scored for flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet, bassoon (doubling contrabassoon), French horn, trumpet, trombone, timpani, snare drum, wood block, cymbals, bass drum, tambourine, tam-tam, whistle, piano (doubling celesta) and strings. The home key of all six movements is C major. I Introduction Allegro vivo = 92 II Cortège Moderato molto = 69 – Animato subito = 126 – Allegro moderato = 112 – Animato subito = 126 III Nocturne Lento = 63 IV Valse Animato assai = 96 – Tempo di Valze = 60 – Poco più animato = 72– Vivo molto = 144 V Parade Tempo di marcia = 120 VI Finale Quasi cadenza = 100–112 – Vivo (Tempo di galop) = 168
Style Ibert was a friend of two of the members of – Darius Milhaud and Arthur Honegger, but his music generally had little in common with theirs or that of their fellow group members. The musical scholar Roger Nichols writes that in Divertissement, Ibert comes closer than usual to their style:Nichols, p. 7
The composer Michael Ippolito comments that in between the frivolity Ibert offers "a delicately crafted Nocturne that seduces us with atmosphere and sonority, showing an incredible ear for orchestral colour, especially considering the small ensemble".Ippolito, pp. 4–5
Recordings According to the conductor Richard Auldon Clark, Divertissement is "undoubtedly Ibert's best-known composition",Clark, p. 2 and it has received many recordings. OrchestraConductorYear Winterthur Henry Swoboda 1950 Paris Conservatoire Roger Désormière 1951 Hallé Sir John Barbirolli 1954 Concert Arts Felix Slatkin 1954 Boston Pops Arthur Fiedler 1957 Paris Conservatoire Jean Martinon 1960 MGM Carlos Surinach 1960 Philadelphia Eugene Ormandy 1963 City of Birmingham Symphony Louis Frémaux 1974 CBC Radio Mario Bernardi 1982 Academy of St Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner 1982 Montreal Symphony Charles Dutoit 1989 Ulster Yan Pascal Tortelier 1992 Cincinnati Pops Erich Kunzel 1992 Tapiola Sinfonietta Paavo Järvi 1993 Dallas Symphony Eduardo Mata 1994Manhattan ChamberRichard Auldon Clark1996 Lamoureux Yutaka Sado 2000 London Chamber Christopher Warren-Green 2011 Svizzera Italiana Howard Griffiths 2013 Suisse Romande Neeme Järvi 2016
Source: WorldCat and Naxos Music Library
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