In college, I was exposed to the great classical masters of all time, and Maurice Ravel became one of my favorites.
This score for a ballet is based on the "Daphnis and Chloe, work by Longus, written in the 2nd or 3rd century ce and considered the first pastoral prose romance. The work tells the story of two foundlings who are brought up by shepherds and who fall in love at an early age. They are soon kidnapped and separated, but after several adventures, they are reunited."
For many, Daphnis et Chloé is Ravel’s supreme masterpiece – a glorious reversal of standard dramatic procedures. When there is little going on to drive the plot forward, Ravel tends to stay languorously in the moment, yet when things spring into action, as in the pirates’ abduction of Chloé, he refuses to take the musical bait. Perhaps this, after all, is Daphnis et Chloé’s most groundbreaking revelation.
Open thread below...
