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ProOuest Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 • Ravel's Shéhérazade and Fin-de-Siècle Orientalism Andrew Deruchie Faculty ofMusic. McGill University Montreal. Canada • A thesis submined to the Faculty ofGraduate Studies and Research in partial fuUillment 0 f the requirements 0 f the degree 0 f N(aster 0 l'Arts .~: Andrew Denlchie 2000 • Nationallibrary Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie services seNïces bibliographiques 395 W.linglOn Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1 A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1 A 0N4 canada Canada The author bas granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library ofCanada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies ofthis thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels May be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 0-612-70280-4 Canadi • TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Résumé 11 Acknowledgments III Chapter 1 Shéhérazade. Exoticism~ and Orientalism Chapter II Dream Worlds and Desire: • Shéhérazade and Fin de Siècle Orientalism Chapter III Ravers Story: Shéhérazade and The Thol/sand and One l\ïghls 60 Appendix A Texts 87 Appendix B A Textual Problem 90 Sdècted Bibliography • • Abstract Shéhérazade (Trois poèms de Tristan Klingsor). composed in 1903. represents both Ravel's first major vocal work and his earliest major orchestral composition. Despite the work's important position in the composer"s oeuvre. it has received litde academic attention. No monograph. dissertation. or article on Shéhérazade has yet appeared. The primary objective ofthis study is to make this much needed contribution ta Ravel scholarship. Ofthe piece's salient features. the most immediately striking is its exoticism: every phrase is given an Oriental tint. Using the work ofcultural entic Edward Said as a theoretical framework. 1contextualize Shéhéra::ade' s exoticism by situating the piece within the broad set of interrelated cultural practices Said calls Orientalism. 1show that the work is affiliated. structurally and rhetorically. with particular Orientalist texts (both musical and non-musical). textual genres. traditions. and • practices. By locating the piece historically among these lexts and practices. and by using them as a referential network to read it henneneutically. 1demonstrate that rich cultural. politiea!. and. for Ravel. personal meaning can be read inta Shéhéra=ade. • 11 • Résumé Shéhérazade (Trois poèmes de Tristan Klingsor), qui fut composée en 1903, représente à la fois la première œuvre vocale et orchestrale d'importance majeure de Ravel. Malgré la place considérable qu'elle occupe dans l'œuvre du compositeur, cette pièce n'a reçu que peu d'attention dans le cercle académique. Il n'existe guère de monographie, dissertation ou article sur Shéhérazade qui eut parue jusqu'à présent. L'objectifprimordial de cett~ étude est d'apporter cette contribution nécessaire aux études raveliennes. Parmi les caractéristiques saillantes de la pièce, une des plus saisissante est son aspect exotique; une teinte orientale est donnée à chaque phrase. En utilisant l'œuvre du critique Edward Said en tant que cadre théorique, je mets en contexte l'exotisme de • Slzéhérazade en situant la pièce dans le large ensemble de pratiques culturelles intimement liées nommées orientalisme par celui-ci. Je montre que l'œuvre est affiliée, du point de vue structurel et rhétorique, à des textes orientalistes (à la fois musicaux et non-musicaux), des genres textuel, des traditions, et de's pratiques. En situant la pièce historiquement panni ces textes et ces pratiques, ainsi qu'en les utilisant en tant que réseau référentiel pour une lecture herméneutique, je démontre les riches implications culturelles et politique dans Slzéhéra=ade, ainsi que le sens personnel que l'œuvre aurait pu avoir pour Ravel. • iii • Acknowledgments In the course ofpreparing this project 1received advice, assistance, and encouragement from many people. 1wish to thank, above aIl, Professor Steven Huebner, who oversaw not only the thesis itself, but aIl ofthe guises various parts ofit have appeared in. l have profited immensely from his guidance, criticism, and extraordinary knowledge offin-de-siècle music and culture. l would also like to express my gratitude to Professors Tamara Levitz and Don M~Lean. Both have helped shape the way l think about music, and this paper owes a great deal to their influence. It has been my good fortune to have worked with sorne very talented and colourful graduate students. Michael Free, Heather Wiebe, Jim (now Professor) MacKay, Chris Stone, Catrena Flint, and Megan Emmett here at McGill, and John Higney and Bill Richards at the University of Western Ontario are just a few among many. l have benefited immeasurably from their • friendship, advice, and our many, many long conversations about music, musicology, and music theory. Thanks also to Michael Strasser for assistance locating documents at the Bibliothèque Nationale, and Joana Ali for turning my Abstract into a Résumé. The encouragement ofmy family and too many friends to name here has been valuable ta me in ways Ida not know how to express. Finally, my most heartfelt thanks ta Alexia Preston. Her support, encouragement, and musicianship have been constant sources of inspiration. • • Chapter 1 Shéhérazade, Exoticism, and Orientalism On May 17, 1904 the Société iVationale de Atfusique presented its 32 pl concert at the Salle du Nouveau Théâtre in Paris. The programme (reproduced in Appendix B) was in many ways typical ofSociété Nationale concerts in that it included premieres ofa number oforchestral and choral \vorks by composers ofdisparate artistic temperaments and various degrees ofrenown within the French musical community. The extremes here are perhaps best represented by Vincent d'Indy, ardent follower of Franck, and arguably the most respected musician in the country at • the time. and Maurice Ravel, a young admirer of Debussy \vith virtually no credentials apart from a Delccième Second Prix earned in the 1901 Prix de Rome competition. Further typical ofSociété iVarionale concerts is that the majority of pieces on this programme were soon to faH into obscurity. Yet the premiere of Ravers work. Shéhérazade, a cycle ofthree orchestral songs (""Asie:' "La Flûte enchantée:' and "L.IndifférenC), on "Oriental" texts by his friend Tristan Klingsor,:: would prove to be an auspicious event for the young composer. 1 The complete texts and translations are included in Appendix A. The thre.: songs Jr~ listed here in their published order. At the premiere. "La Flùte enchantée" was perfomled tirsT. follü,,"cd b~ "L ïndift~rent:' and "Asie" was performed Inst.. The reasons for this discrepancy have n~\'er be~n made entirely c1ear. This issue is taken up Olt gre~ltcr l.:ngth in Appendix B. : "Tristan Klingsor" was the pseudonym of Arthur Justin Lt:on Lt:cl~rc ( 187~-19()6). J Frr:nch • pot:t. painter. and composer. 2 ShéhéraZllde. Ravel's first orchestral song cycle. was composed in 1903, and • in 1911 he arranged the work for voice and piano. When asked about the songs later in his life, Ravel simply replied HIn them, again~ 1succumbed to the profound fascination which the East has held for me since childhood."3 The cycle~ as Ravel's comment indicates~ was not his first encounter with the subject of the Orient. Nor was it even his first work ta bear the ritIe Shéhéra=ade. According ta Alexis Roland- NlanueL Ravel's friend. student and biographer. ·'a number ofyears earlier·· the composer had planned a ··fairy-tale opera" ofthe same title on a libretto he himself had drafted based on The ThOl/sand and One Nights. The opera project was eventually abandoned. but not before Ravel had composed the overture.-l Shéhérccade. Ouverture de féerie \vas \\'ntten in 1898 and performed the following year at the Société lvationale. The \vork was not weil received. and the composer. dissatisfied with its quality. later withdrew the piece. It remained unpublished until • 1975 and was apparently not performed again until then. Although it is clear that the song cycle does not represent a revival or realization ofthe opera project. it appears Ravel incorporated sorne of the overture's thematic material into the cycle. The relationship bet\veen the opera project. overture. and song cycle \viII be examined in greater detail in chapter tluee. The cycle's more immediate genesis can be traced to Ravel"s association with a circle knO\\TI as Les Apaches.