Concerto Barocco and Esplanade

[Farrell Fan]

Paul Taylor used the second and third movements of the Bach double violin concerto for "Esplanade," while Balanchine had used the entire score for "Concerto Barocco." Taylor's work is actually longer, because he incorporated another Bach violin ccncerto, the one in E major. Is there another example of the same piece of music being used for what are undoubtedly two masterpieces of dance?

[Dale]

Midsummer Night's Dream and The Dream, although Balanchine padded the score with other Mendelssohn works. But, yeah, pretty amazing with the Bach works: both masterpieces, both breaking new ground.

[sandik]

When members of the Martha Graham company recreated her Steps in the Street, they used the same Wallingford Rieger score from Doris Humphrey's Variations and Conclusions to New Dance.

[carbro]

Bach (again), in the form of the Musical Offering by (again) both Balanchine (final movement of Episodes) and Taylor, who, uncharacteristically for him but characteristically for Balanchine , kept the music's title. Also, Limon choreographed it, yes?, but I've never seen that work.

Regarding the comparison of Barocco and Esplanade, I find it interesting that in both cases, the slow movement begins with an exit.

[Ari]

I also detect a salute to Barocco in the moment in Esplanade when the female soloist jumps over the bodies of a line of dancers stretched out across the floor. I've always seen it as an allusion to the moment in the Balanchine when the man lifts the ballerina over the heads of the line of corps girls.

[Alexandra]

Bournonville used Weber's "Invitation to the Dance" for a mime scene (!!), the prologue to "Konservatoriet" in the 1850s, when Weber's music was nearly new. Fokine used the same music for "Le Spectre de la Rose."

In the "it all depends on your point of view" department, I once read a scathing criticism of "Spectre" by a Danish critic comparing the two. OUR Master's was far superior. The Russian version is mere gymnastics, while OUR Master's is poetic and human.

I saw the revival of "Konservatoriet" in 1995 (the full version had been out of rep since 1929, I write from memory) and the use of the music caught me totally off-guard. It's a mime scene, with the concierge of the school, the old man who's the ballet's central character, being fussed over by his housekeeper (who gets him in the end).

I can't prove that Fokine knew about this ballet, but I suspect he did, through Christian Johansson.