Music for the ballet is our feature on this week's An English Pastorale with music by Edward Elgar, Arnold Bax and Constant Lambert.
Edward Elgar's The Sanguine Fan was written in 1917 for a performance in support of war charity. The light plot of the ballet was taken from the scenario depicted on a sylvan fan by artist Charles Sonder. The entire composition wasn't recorded until 1973. We'll hear the 1989 recording by Brydon Thomson and the London Philharmonic.
From Dusk Till Dawn by Arnold Bax (PHOTO) was commissioned by the same woman who commissioned Elgar's work in the same year. She requested a ballet from Bax for a charity matinee at London's Palace Theatre. The story revolves around china figures who can suddenly move one summer night.
Constant Lambert's Romeo and Juliet is one of only two commissions for British composer by the famous Russian choreographer Sergei Diaghilev. It's not a traditional retelling of the Shakespeare classic, but about a ballet company rehearsing for a performance. The story picks up on the traditional tale except for the fact that at the end the lovers elope by airplane. The original set and costume design was a collaboration by Max Ernst and Joan Miro.
Join us for An English Pastorale Sunday morning at 9 on Classical 90.5. In the meantime, enjoy an excerpt from Romeo and Juliet with photos of the set design: