“Nuit Persane” by C. Saint-Saëns: Oriental Story from a Frenchman

Section 1. Western European music of the 19th and early 20th centuries

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Since the 18th century, oriental theme have been firmly established in French classical music . Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) did not miss it in his vocal cycle “Persian Melodies” for voice and piano op. 26 (1870), which he transformed later into a picturesque symphonic canvas “Nuit Persane” op. 26-bis (1891). The very fact of such a transformation cannot fail to arouse research interest, especially since the score became not just a vocal-orchestral version of “Persian Melodies”, but acquired features of spectacular theatricality. If the early period of the composer’s work was marked by such significant achievements as Piano Quintet (1855), Christmas Oratorio (1858), Piano Trio No. 1 (1863), Introduction and Rondo-capriccioso (1863), Piano Concerto No. 2 (1868), numerous mélodies and sacred motets, then with the outbreak of the FrancoPrussian War (1870–71), the composer’s productivity decreased. It is indicatively that in 1870, when he wrote only a few compositions, “Mélodies Persanes” was among them. What significance, in the context of the composer’s creative evolution, was his appeal to the images of the East? How exactly does he reveal the oriental theme? Elucidation of this question, along with the study of the author’s style of C. Saint-Saëns, became the purpose of our research. Objectives, methods, novelty of the research. The following tasks were implemented: the main facts from the history of creation, first performances, sheet music publications of “Mélodies Persanes” and “Nuit Persane” were summarized; A. Renaud’s poems, which became the poetic basis of these works, were translated; the form, intonation structure and logic of harmonic development in each of the numbers of the Cantata were analyzed; the semantic constructions and the features of the musical dramaturgy of the work were characterized; and specific details of the orchestral writing were revealed. For analyzing the work, historical, genre and style, structural and functional, comparative, and systematic research methods were used. The vocal cycle “Mélodies Persanes” (the “prototype” of the Cantata) has attracted some research attention (Noske,1954; Ladjili, 1995; Johnson, 1997; Zeng Tao, 2016; Bertaux, 2021). There are significantly fewer studies of the cantata “Nuit Persane” op. 26-bis. One of the first reviews belonging É. Baumann (1905) emphasizes the difference between the Persian and the African Orient. Some research aspects are covered in the text materials dedicated to the 2007 CD edition of the Cantata. Y. Gérard (2008) provides valuable facts from the history of the work, while W. Yeoman (2008) focuses more on its musical construction. H. Macdonald draws the parallels with “The Damnation of Faust” by H. Berlioz and come to conclusion that a number of C. Saint-Saëns’ works “evoke the Muslim world, but none with more potency than Nui Persane”(Macdonald, n.d.). The mentioned materials leave considerable space for further, more in-depth research into the score by C. Saint-Saëns, including the reproducing the oriental flavor in it, which determines the novelty of our study. Research results. The first decades of C. Saint-Saëns’ composer work (1850s–1860s) marked by the creation of the outstanding chamber-vocal compositions, such as “Rising of the moon”, “Waiting”, “The Bell”, “The death of Ophelia”, “Moonlight”, “Sadness”, “The song of those who set sail upon the sea”. The song cycle “Mélodies Persanes” (1870) became a worthy continuation of previous successes. C. Saint-Saëns turned to the collection of poems “Les Nuits Persanes” (1870), created by his friend A. Renaud (1836–1895). Each of the six mélodies (“The Breeze”, “Empty Splendor”, “The Lonely Woman”, “Sword in Hand”, “In the Graveyard”, “Spinning”) is dedicated to a particular person – P. Viardot, M. Trélat, A. Holmès, H. Regnault, E. Jadin, L. Pagans. In the spring of 1891, C. Saint-Saëns decided to rework the song cycle. At the request of the composer, A. Renaud wrote a scenario for new version. The score was created in Algeria from November 21 to December 16, 1891. In addition to two soloists (contralto, tenor) and a symphony orchestra, a choir and a narrator were included into the score. The new work was called “Nuit Persane” ор. 26-bis and actually became a cantata, despite the absence of a genre designation on the title page of the score. From the very beginning, the features of the plot were laid in the “prototype” – the song cycle op. 26. In our opinion, it was the reason for the processing into a cantata, and not into a orchestral setting, like “Summer Nights” (1841) by H. Berlioz, or “Songs of a Wayfarer” (1884–85) by G. Mahler. Soon after the Cantata was written, some its fragments were performed at the concert on February 14, 1892 (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris) conducted by Édouard Colonne. The performing was so good that the work was repeated the following week. The orchestral and piano scores were printed in 1893–1894; these editions were decorated with exquisite illustrations by G. Clairin, C. Saint-Saëns’s friend. The cantata was fully performed on January 3, 1897 by the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. The critics and the audience took it very favorably. The cantata includes five of the six romances of “Mélodies Persanes” (without “Empty Splendor”, but with partial use of this musical material), and two new movements (“Flight” and “Swans”). Therefore, a total of seven movements were formed into four parts. Each part is preceded by the orchestral prelude with the narrator telling about the upcoming events. Conclusion. The cantata “Nuit Persane” combines emotional spirituality with the compositional skill, which made it possible to achieve significant expressiveness with a fairly economical use of musical means. The leading constants of C. Saint-Saëns’ style are clearly revealed in the sophistication of the writing, variety and detail of the design of this score. Regarding the specific melodic-harmonic, modal, rhythmic elements, the analysis of the work revealed a fairly dosed use of them, that testifies a moderate tribute to orientalism. As a result, there was a musical narrative about the events in the East, but still on behalf of the European C. Saint-Saëns.