Dukas La Péri Fanfare
Dukas La Péri Fanfare Program Notes
In Persian mythology, a Péri, like the Western folkloric Fairy, has a morally ambiguous position: its magical powers can be used for positive ends or otherwise. For the 1911 Paris season of the Ballets Russes, Serge Diaghilev commissioned Dukas to compose a fantastical one-act ballet called La Péri, set in Iran. Briefly, the aged king Iskendar steals a magic flower of youth from the Péri. Now full of youthful energy, he falls in love with her, and she is able to steal the flower back: he dies. Dukas other popular work is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, made immortal by Disney in the original Fantasia. The Fanfare from La Péri is often performed as a free-standing work, at processionals or even for the opening of a concert season!La Péri is a ballet score composed by Paul Dukas in 1912, and its brief opening Fanfare is a brilliant orchestral flourish written to settle the audience's attention before the ballet began. The Fanfare is now frequently performed as an independent concert piece.
La Péri was premiered in Paris on April 22, 1912, choreographed by Natasha Trouhanova. The Fanfare was composed specifically for these performances at Dukas's request.
The Fanfare lasts just approximately 2 to 3 minutes, making it one of the most concise and effective attention-grabbing pieces in the repertoire.
Listen for the bold brass calls that open the piece, immediately commanding silence and attention. The Fanfare builds through a series of increasingly brilliant orchestral gestures before arriving at a triumphant conclusion.
Dukas was an extraordinarily self-critical composer who destroyed most of his compositions. La Péri is one of a small number of works he allowed to survive, and it stands alongside The Sorcerer's Apprentice as his finest achievement.
