View source for Apollo (ballet)

{{Short description|1927–1928 ballet by Igor Stravinsky}}
{{about|Igor Stravinsky's 1928 ballet|the Greek god|Apollo|other uses|Apollo (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox Ballet
|name = Apollo or Apollon musagète
|image = Ballets Russes - Apollo musagète.jpg
|image_size = 
|caption = [[Alexandra Danilova]] and [[Serge Lifar]]
|choreographer = [[Adolph Bolm]], [[George Balanchine]]
|librettist =  Igor Stravinsky
|composer = [[Igor Stravinsky]]
|based_on = 
|premiere = 27 April 1928 (Bolm)<br />{{nowrap|12 June 1928 (Balanchine)}}
|place = Washington, D.C. (Bolm)<br />Paris (Balanchine)
|ballet_company = [[Ballets Russes]] (Balanchine)
|characters = [[Apollo]]<br/>three [[Muses]]: [[Calliope]], the muse of poetry<br/>[[Polyhymnia]], the muse of [[rhetoric]]<br/>[[Terpsichore]], the muse of dance
|designer = [[André Bauchant]]
|setting = [[Classical antiquity]] 
|created for = 
|genre = [[Neoclassical ballet]]
|type = Classical ballet
}}

'''''Apollo''''' (originally '''''Apollon musagète''''' and variously known as ''Apollo musagetes'', ''Apolo Musageta'', and ''Apollo, Leader of the Muses'') is a [[neoclassical ballet]] in two ''[[Scene (drama)|tableaux]]'' composed between 1927 and 1928 by [[Igor Stravinsky]]. It was choreographed in 1928 by twenty-four-year-old [[George Balanchine]], with the composer contributing the [[libretto]]. The scenery and costumes were designed by [[André Bauchant]], with new costumes by [[Coco Chanel]] in 1929. The scenery was executed by [[Alexander Shervashidze]], with costumes under the direction of Mme. A. Youkine. The American patron of the arts [[Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge]] had commissioned the ballet in 1927 for a festival of [[Contemporary classical music|contemporary music]] to be held the following year at the [[Library of Congress]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]

The story centres on [[Apollo]], the Greek god of music, who is visited by three [[Muses]]: [[Terpsichore]], muse of dance and song; [[Polyhymnia]], muse of [[mime]]; and [[Calliope]], muse of poetry. The ballet takes [[Classical antiquity]] as its subject, though its plot suggests a contemporary situation. It is concerned with the reinvention of tradition, since its inspiration is [[Baroque music|Baroque]], [[Classical period (music)|Classical]], or even [[Galant music|post-baroque/rococo/galant]].

It is scored for [[chamber orchestra]] of 34 [[string instruments]] ([[Shorthand for orchestra instrumentation|8.8.6.8.4]]).

==Music==
Stravinsky began composing ''Apollo'' on 16 July 1927 and completed the score on 9 January 1928. He composed for a refined instrumental force, a string orchestra of 34 instrumentalists: 8 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 [[viola]]s, 4 first [[cello]]s, 4 second cellos and 4 [[double bass]]es.

The commission from the Library of Congress and underwritten by Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge paid him $1,000 for the piece, which was required to use only six dancers, require a small orchestra, and last no more than half an hour, but allowed him free choice of subject. Stravinsky had been thinking of writing a ballet on an episode in [[Greek mythology]] for some time and decided to make Apollo, leader of the muses, its central figure while reducing the number of muses from nine to three. They were [[Terpsichore]], personifying the rhythm of poetry and the eloquence of gesture as embodied in the dance; [[Calliope]], combining poetry and rhythm; and [[Polyhymnia]], representing mime.

Stravinsky originally titled the work ''Apollon musagète'', the French transliteration of [[Apollo#Music_and_arts|Apollo Musagetes]]. This is one of the many [[Epithet|classical epithets]] of Apollo and signifies the god's mythological role as the leader of the Muses and the divine patron of music and dance.

Stravinsky wrote for a homogeneous ensemble of bowed string instruments, substituting contrasts in dynamics for the contrasts in [[timbre]] he employed in ''[[Pulcinella (Stravinsky)|Pulcinella]]''. The ballet takes its inspiration from the grand tradition of French 17th- and 18th-century music, in particular that of [[Jean-Baptiste Lully|Lully]], a source Stravinsky returned to when composing ''[[Agon (ballet)|Agon]]'' in 1957. The [[prologue]] begins with dotted rhythms in the style of a [[French overture]]. The work relies on a basic [[rhythmic cell]], presented at the beginning of the work, which Stravinsky transforms by subdivisions of successive values that become increasingly complex. Stravinsky revised the score slightly in 1947. In 1963, he indicated he intended to make further changes, particularly with respect to double-dotting many of the dotted-rhythm passages in Baroque style.<ref>[[Robert Craft]], ''Dialogues and a Diary'', p.? {{Full citation needed|date=January 2018}}<!--Is this a different book from the one jointly authored with Stravinsky and, if not, which edition is being cited (the paginations differ)?--></ref>

==Ballet==
[[File:Apollon musagète.jpg|thumb|[[Falco Kapuste]] as ''Apollo'']]
The first ballet version of Stravinsky's ''Apollon musagète'', commissioned especially for the Washington festival, premiered on 27 April 1928 with choreography by [[Adolph Bolm]], who also danced the role of Apollo. Adolph Bolm put together a company of dancers for the premiere in a country which, at that time, lacked a readily available source of classically trained dancers. [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]], Berenice Holmes ([[Gene Kelly]]'s ballet teacher), and [[Elise Reiman]] were the three Muses and [[Hans Kindler]] conducted. Stravinsky took no interest in the U.S. performance, and Bolm's choreography is now practically forgotten.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Joseph |first1=Charles M. |title=Stravinsky Inside Out |date=1 October 2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=London |isbn=9780300075373 |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gtYqep1IL58C&pg=PA62}}</ref>

He had reserved the European rights to the score for [[Sergei Diaghilev]], whose [[Ballets Russes]] production, choreographed by the 24-year-old Balanchine, opened at the [[Théâtre de la Ville|Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt]] in Paris on 12 June 1928. Stravinsky conducted the performance. The concertmaster was [[Marcel Darrieux]].<ref>{{cite web |title=George Balanchine Catalogue |url=http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?num=84 |website=balanchine.org |access-date=14 April 2019 |archive-date=2 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202161759/http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?num=84 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In accordance with Stravinsky's wishes, the style of dancing was essentially [[Ballet|classical]], and Stravinsky thought of ''"Apollon musagète"'' as a ''[[ballet blanc]]'', that is, costumed in traditional minimal white. Balanchine later said that when he heard Stravinsky's music all he could see was pristine white.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/nofrills-ballet/2007/06/14/1181414461763.html | location=Melbourne, Australia |work=The Age | title=No-frills ballet | date=16 June 2007}}</ref> The clarity, calm, even serenity of the music makes it seem infinitely remote from the colorful excitement of Stravinsky's earlier ballets. The avoidance of any conflict in the scenario, of any narrative, psychological or expressive intent, was further matched by monochrome costumes for the dancers and the absence of elaborate scenery on stage.<ref>{{cite web|title=An Amazing Creative Outburst: Four Ballets by Stravinsky<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/3660/ballet_s.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027110255/http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/3660/ballet_s.html |archive-date=27 October 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref>

Scenery and costumes for Balanchine's production were by French artist [[André Bauchant]]. Coco Chanel provided new costumes in 1929. Apollo wore a reworked [[toga]] with a diagonal cut, a belt, and laced up sandals. The Muses wore traditional [[Ballet tutu|tutus]]. The decoration was baroque: two large sets, with some rocks and Apollo's chariot.

The scenario involved the birth of Apollo, his interactions with the three Muses, Calliope (poetry), Polyhymnia (mime) and Terpsichore (dance and song), and his ascent as a god to [[Mount Parnassus]]. The original cast included [[Serge Lifar]] as Apollo, Alice Nikitina as Terpsichore (alternating with [[Alexandra Danilova]]), [[Lubov Tchernicheva]] as Calliope, [[Felia Doubrovska]] as Polyhymnia and Sophie Orlova as [[Leto]], mother of Apollo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?num=84|title=George Balanchine Catalogue|work=balanchine.org|access-date=26 October 2011|archive-date=2 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202161759/http://www.balanchine.org/balanchine/display_result.jsp?num=84|url-status=dead}}</ref>

For a revival with [[Mikhail Baryshnikov]] as Apollo in 1979, he also omitted Apollo's first variation and re-choreographed the ballet's ending. This revision concluded not with Apollo's ascent to Mount Parnassus but rather with moving the "peacock" ''tableau'' of the Muses in arabesques of ascending height beside Apollo, which originally happened slightly earlier, to the final pose. In the 1980 staging for the [[New York City Ballet]], Apollo's first variation was restored.

[[Suzanne Farrell]] restored the birth scene for her company in 2001, as did [[Arthur Mitchell (dancer)|Arthur Mitchell]] for his [[Dance Theatre of Harlem]] performance at [[Symphony Space]]'s ''Wall to Wall Balanchine'' in conjunction with City Ballet's Balanchine centennial and [[Iain Webb]] for The [[Sarasota Ballet]]'s Tribute to Nureyev performance in February 2015 (staged by Sandra Jennings).

===Form===
The characters are [[Apollo]] and three muses: [[Calliope]], the muse of poetry; [[Polyhymnia]], the muse of [[rhetoric]]; and [[Terpsichore]], the muse of dance. The theme is: Apollon musagetes instructs the muses in their arts and leads them to [[Mount Parnassus|Parnassus]]. The ballet is divided into two ''tableaux'':

* '''First ''tableau'''''
** Prologue: The Birth of Apollo
* '''Second ''tableau'''''
** [[Variation (ballet)|Variation]] of Apollo
** [[Pas d’action|Pas d'action]] (Apollo and the Three Muses)
** Variation of Calliope (the Alexandrine)
** Variation of Polyhymnia
** Variation of Terpsichore
** Second Variation of Apollo
** [[Pas de deux]]
** [[Coda (music)|Coda]]
** Apotheosis

==Other premieres==
*[[American Ballet Theatre]] first premiered the ballet in 1943 in New York City at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] House.<ref name=abt/>
* The New York City Ballet premiere was 15 November 1951, at [[New York City Center|City Center of Music and Drama]], New York.<ref name=nycbrep/>
* The Royal Ballet premiere was on 15 November 1966, with [[Donald MacLeary]] as Apollo, [[Svetlana Beriosova]] as Terpsichore, [[Monica Mason]] as Polyhymnia and [[Georgina Parkinson]] as Calliope.<ref name=roh/>
* The first performance of the Balanchine work in Australia was by the [[Australian Ballet]] on 3 May 1991, when it was staged for the company by [[Karin von Aroldingen]], former leading artist of New York City Ballet. On opening night, [[Steven Heathcote]] danced the role of Apollo with Justine Miles as Calliope, Miranda Coney as Polyhymnia and Lisa Pavane as Terpsichore.<ref name=trove/>
* First performance by [[Birmingham Royal Ballet]] was on 24 September 2003 at the Birmingham Hippodrome.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
* The Stravinsky score was used by Margaret Scott in creating her version of ''Apollon Musagete'' for the Ballet Guild in 1951, by Charles Lisner in his 1962 version for the [[Queensland Ballet]], and by Robin Grove in his 1967 production for the Victorian Ballet Company.<ref name=trove/>
*The first performance of the Balanchine work in South America was in Peru by the [[Ballet Nacional del Peru]] on September 8, 2017. It was staged for the company by [[List of New York City Ballet dancers|Elyse Borne]], former soloist of New York City Ballet who had performed the role of Polyhymnia herself under Balanchine's staging.

==Casts==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! '''Role'''
! World premiere (1928)<ref name=abt>{{cite web|url=https://www.abt.org/ballet/apollo/|title=Apollo|work=American Ballet Theatre|access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref>
! US premiere (1937)<ref name=abt/>
! [[American Ballet Theatre]] premiere (1943)<ref name=abt/>
! [[New York City Ballet]] premiere (1951)<ref name=nycbrep>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/apollo/|title=Apollo|work=New York City Ballet|access-date=8 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balanchine.org/display_result.jsp?id=355|title=284. Apollo, Leader of the Muses|work=George Balanchine Foundation}}</ref>
! [[The Royal Ballet]] premiere (1966)<ref name=roh>{{cite web|url=http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/performance.aspx?performance=11704&row=0|title=Apollo - 15 November 1966 Evening|work=Royal Opera House Collections Online}}</ref>
! [[The Australian Ballet]] premiere (1991)<ref name=trove>{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/list/1202|title=Apollo (Australian context)|work=Trove|date=January 1, 2010}}</ref>
|-
!Apollo
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Serge Lifar]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Lew Christensen]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |[[André Eglevsky]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Donald MacLeary]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Steven Heathcote]]
|-
!Terpsichore
| style="text-align:center;" |Alice Nikitina
| style="text-align:center;" |Elise Reiman
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Vera Zorina]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Maria Tallchief]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Svetlana Beriosova]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Lisa Pavane
|-
!Polyhymnia
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Lubov Tchernicheva]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Holly Howard
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Nora Kaye]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Tanaquil Le Clercq]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Monica Mason]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Miranda Coney
|-
!Calliope
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Felia Dubrovska]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Daphne Vane
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Rosella Hightower]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Diana Adams]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[Georgina Parkinson]]
| style="text-align:center;" |Justine Miles
|}

==Further information==
Balanchine shortened the title to ''Apollo'' in the 1950s, which Stravinsky himself came to prefer. Despite the popularly considered Balanchine-Stravinsky Greek link due to Balanchine's later work with Stravinsky scores in [[Orpheus (ballet)|''Orpheus'']] and [[Agon (ballet)|''Agon'']], the music for ''Apollo'' was commissioned by the [[Library of Congress]]. ''Orpheus'' may be considered a sequel to ''Apollo'' but ''Agon'' is a formal plotless ballet whose title in Greek evokes a contest.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Balanchine, a biography|last=Bernard|first=Taper|date=1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0520206398|edition=2nd pbk.|location=Berkeley|pages=273–275|oclc=36405361}}</ref>

==Recordings==
In light of [[Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts|the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts]], [[New York City Ballet]] released a recording featuring [[Taylor Stanley]], [[Tiler Peck]], Brittany Pollack, and [[Indiana Woodward]], filmed in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/new-york-city-ballet-will-stream-free-ballets_90913.html|title=New York City Ballet Will Stream Free Ballet Broadcasts in April and May|website=TheaterMania|date=21 April 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Apollo (ballet)}}
*{{IMSLP|work=Apollon musagète, K048 (Stravinsky, Igor)}}
*[https://www.balanchine.com/Ballet/Apollo Apollo] on the website of the Balanchine Trust

===Reviews===
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1934/11/04/archives/the-dance-american-ballet-in-debut-a-new-group-emerges-from.html Sunday NY Times] by [[John Martin (dance critic)|John Martin]], 4 November 1934
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1980/01/05/archives/dance-city-ballet-in-balanchines-apollo-tribute-to-syvilla-fort-to.html NY Times] by [[Jack Anderson (dance critic)|Jack Anderson]], 5 January 1980
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/arts/dance/12hubb.html NY Times] by [[Alastair Macaulay]], 12 February 2008

{{Igor Stravinsky}}{{Balanchine ballets}}{{Neoclassicism (music)}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollo (Ballet)}}
[[Category:Ballets by George Balanchine]]
[[Category:Ballets by Igor Stravinsky]]
[[Category:Ballets Russes productions]]
[[Category:New York City Ballet repertory]]
[[Category:1928 compositions]]
[[Category:1928 ballets]]
[[Category:Neoclassicism (music)]]
[[Category:Ballets designed by Ronald Bates]]
[[Category:Ballets designed by Coco Chanel]]
[[Category:Compositions for string orchestra]]
[[Category:Music commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge]]
[[Category:Mythology in ballet]]