Aubade
Subtitle: Concerto chorégraphique pour piano et 18 instruments
General Info
Year: 1929
Duration: c. 20:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Salabert, through Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Parts - Rental | Score Only - $35.95
Movements (played without pause)
- Toccata - 2:32
- Récitatif - 1:46
- Rondeau - 3:21
- Presto - 1:35
- Récitatif - 2:12
- Andante - 3:06
- Allegro féroce - 0:39
- Conclusion - 4:58
Instrumentation
- Full Score
- Solo Piano
- Flute I-II
- Oboe I-II (II doubling English Horn)
- Bassoon I-II
- B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
- C Trumpet
- Horn in F I-II
- Contrabass I-II
- Timpani
Viola I-II
Cello I-II
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
An aubade is a morning courting song, vs. a serenade in the evening. Here the action begins one morning, and ends the next day at dawn. Poulenc's Aubade was originally conceived as ballet music, but is today regarded as a piano concerto. The work was premiered as a ballet on 18 June 1929 at the Noailles, which determined the size of the orchestra Poulenc could employ. The choreographer was Bronislava Nijinska. A few months later, it was revived at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in the choreography this time by George Balanchine, of which Poulenc disapproved.
Poulenc himself designed the scenario of the ballet whose theme is the solitude of women. The goddess Diana is the heroine. The action begins in a clearing. Diana's companions awaken little by little. Diana enters the scene, tormented by the chastity imposed on her. Her companions dress her then give her a bow: the hunt must serve her as a distraction. A solo of Diana follows, before she rejects the bow and goes into the forest, desperate. Her companions try to console her, but Diana goes hunting, alone. Her companions fall asleep.
- Program note adapted from Wikipedia
Media
- Audio CD: Orchestre National de France (Charles Dutoit, conductor; Pascal Rogé, piano) - 1998
- Audio CD: Harmonie Ensemble New York (Steven Richman, Conductor; Ralph Votapek, piano) - 1990
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Liberty University (Lynchburg, Va.) Symphony Orchestra (Kathryn Wert, conductor; Tad Hardin, piano) - 3 November 2020
- University of Maryland (College Park) Wind Orchestra (Rita Sloan, piano) - 4 May 2018
- New England Conservatory (Boston, Mass.) Jordan Winds (Sergio Monterisi, conductor; Keith Kirchoff, piano) - 3 May 2005
- University of New Hampshire (Durham) Wind Symphony (Andrew Boysen Jr., conductor) - May 2003
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Aubade (1929)
- Concerto for Winds (tr. Singleton) (1918/1939/2011)
- Fanfare (1921)
- La Belle au Bois Dormant (1935)
- Les Biches (arr. Cailliet) (1923/1964)
- Movements perpetuals (arr. Wiggins) (1918/1984)
- Quatre Poèmes de Max Jacob (1921/1993)
- Sextour (1930-32/1939)
- Sonata for Flute (arr. van Groningen) (1956/2004)
- Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone (1922)
- The Story of Babar (orch. Françaix and Mairs) (1940/)
- Suite Française d'après Claude Gervaise (1935)
Resources
- Aubade (Poulenc). Wikipedia. Accessed 9 July 2024
- Poulenc, Francis (1973). Aubade: Concerto chorégraphique pour piano et dix-huit instruments [score]. Editions Salabert, Paris.