MinkusPugni

Don't say that about Paquita! I love it so much! lol... the only thing bad about it is that orchestration of the variations. If you hear other orchestrations it sounds much nicer. I have that same CD. Are you talking about the Shades Pas de Trois? As in the waltz after the entrance? If you are talking about that then it should be on every CD of La Bayadere. Going back to that previous CD, I don't like it how Solor's variation appears in that last act. Sometimes in suites of La Bayadere when they only perform the last act his variation appears there but it shouldn't in a CD recording. That variation is for the Gamzatti pas de deux in the second act (sometimes its the third act).

In the score, the fairies' names are: 1. Candite (Honesy, candid) 2. Coulante. Fleur de Farine (Running. Flower of the Flour) 3. Miettes qui Tombent (Crumbs which fall) 4. Canari qui Chante (Canary which sings) 5. Violente (Violent) 6. La Fee des Lilas (The Lilac Fairy) The only one that confuses me is the Coulantes fairy. Flower of the Flour? I read somewhere what the Miettes fairy is but I can't quite remember. Anyway, those names are usually shortened in the programmes to: 1. Candite 2. Coulante 3. Miettes 4. Canari 5. Violente 6. Lilas

When you perform the fairy section of "The Sleeping Beauty", what colours are your fairies? When I used to do the ballet at my old school, they were: 1. White 2. Dull yellow 3. White-pink (thats a VERY light pink, not white and pink) 4. Bright yellow 5. Orange 6. Purple (That's in order of the variations) The Australian ballet ones are: 1. Blue 2. Green 3. Orangey-browny 4. Yellow 5. Pink 6. Purple I think they should be: 1. Blue 2. Green 3. Pink 4. Yellow 5. Red 6. Purple If you have any other suggestions please let me know. Also, in Act III there is a dance. It is sometimes a Pas de Quatre for four fairies (Gold, Silver, Diamond, Sapphire) and sometimes it is a Pas de Trois for Prince Florestan and his sisters (leaving out the music for the first variation). Which one do you usually do because I can't decide which one's better?

Sometimes a different orchestration of that music is infact used in Paquita which leaves you wondering - how much of Le Corsaire is actually by Minkus?

God, it makes me shiver just thinking about reconstructions. YOU CAN'T DO IT. If the ballet's lost it's lost. Okay: Minkus wrote the GRAND PAS and the PAS DE TROIS. In Lacotte's its the first act pas de trois and I believe it's the whole wedding scene. Buy a CD of Minkus' Paquita and listen to it and you'll figure out which parts he wrote.

This is just like... phrasing. Usually you have 16-count phrase (sometimes 8) which is repeated, then you go onto another phrase of the same amount and you come back to the first phrase again before finishing with a small coda. So the form kinda looks like this: ABAC for a classical variation.

You have gotten yourself into a lot of trouble lol! La Fille mal Gardee is possibly the most confusing ballet ever! It's history is like AAAH! Ashton's revival is to music by Herold which was changed from the music by Hertel I believe it was and Hertel's music was just traditional folk melodies and then the original choreography to Hertel's music was scrapped and changed into Ashton's but then the original choreography was revived and is still popular but Ashton's is in UK and Australia. So I'm sorry, I can't help you but I believe you can only get recordings of Herold's score. And if you're talking about a "second act pas de deux" it's probably Ashton's one. Confusing huh?

Yeah, you're right. If a composer has composed for another ballet they often add it into it. Like Amour's variation in Don Quixote was added into Paquita (Minkus).

Yes I believe it has. It is the first part of the ballet "GALA PERFORMANCE" which is a great comedy. The second part is another Prokofiev piece but I can't quite remember the name - I'll try and get back to you.

Minkus composed alot of music for Giselle that was later scrapped when Minkus became unfashionable due to Tchaikovsky. Minkus' story is a seriously tragic one. But yeah... he wrote heaps of it and most of it's been lost but obviously some of it survives. It never worked because Minkus' music is so completely different to Adam's. Petipa wanted to add Minkus' work into the ballet because he thought it was too short. Personally, I think the ballet is way too long and boring. But I do love the Peasant Pas de Deux. It would have been refreshing to hear something with an easy tune when Minkus' music was added and I believe audiences back then enjoyed it.

No, the Odalisque Pas de Trois doesn't sound like Minkus big time. It is different from most of his other compositions but I do believe Minkus either orchestrated (very unlikely) Pugni's tunes seeing as Minkus was Pugni's contemporary or Pugni took some of Minkus' rejected tunes from one of his other ballets and orchestrated that. I have recently found out that Minkus never actually wrote orchestrations for his pieces. He left that to someone else. All Minkus did was write the tunes and accompaniment for them and let someone else put them into orchestration because all Minkus played was the violin. But it was common to "borrow" tunes from other people when Pugni was around though that was starting to change by the time Minkus came about. That's why we have heard the familiar tunes of "The Pas de Quatre" by Pugni. Here is something I wrote in another forum about this forum because for some reason I couldn't register. It has stuff about Le Corsaire and I'm hoping some of you can clear a few things up or discuss at least: "I would really love to discuss the music from "Le Corsaire". I find it so interesting that so many composers are credited (Adam, Delibes, Pugni, Drigo, Oldenbourg) for a single ballet, yet some (at least one vital one) are left out. Adolphe Adam was the original composer of the ballet, then Pugni's music was entered and then Delibes' and Drigo's. Pugni's part was as far as I can tell, part of the slave pas de deux (sometimes a pas de deux a trois) and the Odalisque Pas de Trois and some Pas d'Actions (action scenes). Delibes' contribution was the Pas de Fleurs or the Jardin Anime, though I have alot to argue about this. Drigo's contribution was part of the slave pas de deux but I am sure he would have had to have composed much more to be credited. I am not even sure what Prince Oldenbourg's contribution was! I am amazed that Minkus is left out of the credits. I heard from someone that Pugni adapted Minkus' music for the Odalisque Pas de Trois but I don't think this is true to the full extent. Minkus is Pugni's contemporary and I doubt Minkus would have composed anything for Pugni to have adapted. Also, all of Minkus' compositions were from ballets so surely we would have heard this Pas de Trois somewhere else and I haven't. Though interestingly enough, on a ballet class CD of mine, the second variation from the Odalisque Pas de Trois is credited to both Pugni and Minkus (C. Pugni-A.L. Minkus is what it says). I think maybe a few of the tunes may have been Minkus' but I am not sure. I have also heard someone say that this pas de trois is very "typically Minkus" and it is most certainly not. The pieces are actually quite complex and Minkus never did anything like it. Another point, the Jardin Anime or the Pas de Fleurs, is entirely credited to Delibes. I find this VERY hard to believe. Gulnare's variation is nothing like anything Delibes has ever composed. It is completely different from his usual styles. The orchestration differs entirely from what he usually does. I may be wrong but I believe he didn't compose that piece. I have also heard different orchestrations of the piece used in some productions of "Paquita" which again leads us back to Minkus but this piece is not in the appendix score. Medora's variation is most certainly not Delibes. I think it may be Minkus but I am not sure. It appears in the score for Don Quixote (Minkus) as "Classical Variation I". But, on another ballet class CD of mine ("A Class from St Petersburg") that piece is credited to some guy called Ivanov who I haven't even heard of. It is certainly a different orchestration from the Don Q one but that doesn't mean Delibes can take the credit for someone elses work. The same person that said the Odalisque Pas de Trois was "typically Minkus" also said that the Jardin Anime was "typically Minkus" aswell. The Pas de Trois and the Pas de Fleurs differ so much! How can they BOTH be typically Minkus? The music for the Pas de Trois is simple in structure, but complex in notes and accompaniment. The music for the Jardin is simple and "cutesy". Minkus' music was simple, yes, but it definately was never "cutesy" take a look at four of his most well-known ballets ("Don Q", "La Bayadere", "Paquita" (only the Grand Pas and the Pas de Trois are his), "La Source") and you will find no music like it. Also, the orchestrations are too lush for Minkus and anyone who is familiar with his real music that hasn't been reorchestrated by someone else will know that Minkus' orchestrations weren't exactly textured. I do believe that music for a ballet should definately stay with ONE composer. I have no idea why Petipa and Perrot didn't call upon Adam to put the appendixes in the score. If you have more than one composer, every single piece of music should be documented which composer composed what. I am surprised that the composers didn't have enough pride of their music to write their name on every single page let alone every single piece." If anyone has more information on the music of "Le Corsaire" please let me know.