Tip-Toeing Through Pizzicato of Delibes's Sylvia
The Best Moments
Sylvia, ou La nymphe de Diane, ballet in three acts (1876)
I'm Léo Delibes, and these are the best moments of my ballet Sylvia. You'll hear the plucked strings of the Pizzicati, the gently swaying Valse lente and the grand Cortège de Bacchus, three pieces that show how much color a ballet orchestra can have. If you'd like to learn how my fellow composers and I help you recognize our pieces the moment they begin, you can give the Trainer a go right here on this site.
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The bow takes a day off
I open the Pizzicati by asking the string players to put their bows down and pluck the strings with their fingertips, a bit like a whole orchestra tiptoeing across the room. It's famous as the music for Sylvia's solo on pointe in Act III, so the dancer is up on her toes while the players are, in their own way, on theirs.
A waltz with all afternoon
I call this one a Valse lente, which just means a slow waltz, and the opening sways along in a gentle three-beat rhythm as if it has all afternoon to cross the dance floor. It belongs to the huntresses' dance in Act I, set in a sacred wood, so you could say even a group of huntresses with their bows will stop for a graceful turn.
Here comes the party
I begin the Cortège de Bacchus like a procession arriving at a celebration, with a festive, marching energy that tells you the guests have no plans to be quiet. It's the procession of the bacchanal in Act III, where Aminta is waiting, and I like to imagine him as the one guest at the party who keeps glancing at his watch.
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When the last note of Sylvia fades, I like to sit quietly for a moment and let the music settle. I wrote it for the stage in 1876, and the first audiences were only moderately impressed. It pleases me that the music kept finding new listeners long after that first evening. Tchaikovsky, a year later, said it was the first ballet in which the music is not only the main interest but the only one. Did you enjoy learning about the best moments of Sylvia? I hope the plucked strings and the slow, swaying waltz will now sound a little more familiar, and maybe even like old friends, the next time you hear them. There is still a lot more to discover in Sylvia, from the story of the nymph and the shepherd to the other dances in the score. Even the ending has its own gentle surprise, when Diana remembers her own love for Endymion and softens. If you'd like to go further, please click on the links provided and keep exploring Sylvia at your own pace. I'd be glad to have you along for the rest of the journey.