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The Wedding (Les Noces)

Les Noces, which means "The Wedding" in English, is a ballet with four scenes first done by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes. Bronislava Nijinska was in charge of the dance, and Igor Stravinsky wrote the music and words. The music has four pianos for voices and unpitched percussion.

On June 13, 1923, the ballet was shown for the first time at the Théatre la Gaîté Lyrique in Paris. Sometimes the ballet is called a "dance cantata," and sometimes, the music is played as a concert piece.

Background

In 1915, Sergei Diaghilev, who put on ballets, wanted to make a dance called "La Liturgie." The Greek Orthodox Church would be its starting point. However, Stravinsky was a strong Christian who was not willing to write this ballet.

He chose Russian folk songs instead for Les Noces. In 1913, he began to ponder over this. Michel Fokine came up with the first steps, but Vaslav Nijinsky completed them. Leonide Massine stepped in for Nijinsky. When Massine left, the dancing was planned by Bronislava Nijinska.

Natalia Goncharova designed the costumes and sets for the ballet. Goncharova is an outstanding artist. Before her third design was accepted, she made two full designs.

The first two designs were turned down because neither the dancing nor the music fit with them. Even though the ballet was based on a folk tale, it was done in a modern style. Both Stravinsky and Nijinska considered it crucial that the aesthetic convey this idea.

Story

Nastasia, the bride, is getting her hair done. She says it hurts when it's pulled. As the chorus serenades her, they sing about how wonderful her future with Fétis will be. In the garden, the nightingales will sing to them.

The choir sings to Mary, the mother of God. They sing about the bridegroom's fair hair. They ask that the young couple be blessed.

The wedding ceremony itself is not shown. The wedding feast is the last of the four scenes. The people have a merry time and get drunk.

"Les Noces is a marriage in many ways," Paul Griffith wrote in his composer biography. "It is a marriage of female and male voices (women's voices dominate the first scene, and men dominate the second scene, and so on), of story and action, song and dance."

But maybe its most profound and most Russian connection is between holiness and humor, between a ceremony that goes beyond the senses and drunk people at a wedding party. It's both funny and essential.