Le carnaval romain
Le carnaval romain ( French The Roman Carnival ) is an overture by Hector Berlioz . It was premiered on February 3, 1844 in Paris under the direction of the composer and was dedicated to the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen .
history
After the failure of his opera Benvenuto Cellini at the Paris Opera in September 1838, Berlioz kept the work alive by performing some popular vocal numbers as well as the overture occasionally in his concerts. Le carnaval romain , which Berlioz provided with the subtitle “Ouverture caractéristique”, was composed as a second orchestral piece using music from the opera. It was conceived from the beginning as an independent concert piece and combines music from the trio of Tableau 1 of the opera with the carnival music from Tableau 2, both in the first act. The first six bars of the overture, which are resumed in bar 128, are from the “Laudamus te” in the Gloria from the solennelle fair of 1824.
The program for the premiere in the Salle Herz in Paris also included Berlioz's orchestral version of Weber's invitation to dance , a piece for male quartet and orchestra, and a chant sacré for six instruments made by Adolphe Sax (lost), three excerpts from Roméo et Juliette , the march of the pilgrims from Harold en Italie and the song Absence from Les nuits d'été . When Benvenuto Cellini was performed again in Weimar in 1842 and London in 1853, Le carnaval romain was played as inter- act music before the second act.
In his memoirs , Berlioz recalled that there was only one rehearsal that the winds had not attended:
“Indeed, before the concert, the winds surrounded me, shocked at the thought of performing a work unknown to them in public. 'Don't be afraid,' I said to them, 'the voices are copied correctly, you are all talented musicians, check my baton as often as possible, pay close attention to your pauses and it will go well.' Not a single mistake was made. I gave the Allegro the swirling movement of the dancers across the Tiber ; the audience shouted 'da capo' and we started the overture again; it was reproduced even better the second time. "
The overture received several positive reviews in the Paris press, including from Amédée Achard in Le courrier . It quickly became popular as a concert piece and is still one of the most frequently performed works by the French composer.
occupation
Strings , flute , piccolo , oboe , English horn , 3 clarinets , 4 bassoons , 2 horns in C, 2 horns in E, 2 trumpets , 2 cornets , 3 trombones , timpani in A and E, 2 tambourines , triangle , cymbals .
expenditure
- Hector Berlioz: Overtures . New Edition of the Complete Works, Vol. 20, pp. 201-250. Ed .: Diana Bickley. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2000.
Web links
- Le carnaval romain : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
Individual evidence
- ↑ Preface to Overtures . New Edition of the Complete Works, Vol. 20. S. XXVII.