This
week on Clef Notes we are looking at ballets that were considered controversial
at their premieres. In honor of composer Erik Satie’s 150th birthday
that’s coming up on May 17, let’s look at how his Parade created conflict following its 1917 premiere.
Last
year in a Music and Art blog post, I discussed Satie as a Cubist composer. But
what is Cubism? In art, this style features three-dimensional objects
represented on a two-dimensional plane. This is done by using geometrical
shapes such as cubes (hence “Cubism”) and overlapping them in a fun, sometimes
colorful, way. But how is this Cubist idea portrayed in music? Satie’s ballet Parade illustrates this idea of
overlapping fragments in music by using jazz elements, a whistle, siren, and
typewriter in his score. These features were unheard of at this point in history
and audiences did not respond well.
Parade was written by Jean Cocteau with
choreography by Léonide Massine. It is interesting to note the costumes were
unconventional as well, displaying the Cubist artwork of Pablo Picasso. Here
are a few excerpts from Satie’s score to Parade.
