Le Bal de Béatrice d'Este (ed Chase)

From Wind Repertory Project
Reynaldo Hahn

Reynaldo Hahn (arr. Jared G. Chase)


General Info

Year: 1905 / 1909 / 2011
Duration: c. 17:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Jared G. Chase
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $130.00; (digital) - $100.00   |   Score Only (print) - $30.00


Movements

1. Entree de Ludovic le More - 1:30
2. Lesquarcade - 3:26
3. Romanesque - 3:35
4. Iberienne - 1:40
5. Leda et l'oiseau - 2:10
6. Courante - 3:45
7. Salut Final au Duc de Milan - 0:45


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II (I doubles Piccolo)
Oboe
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
C Trumpet
Horn in F I-II
Piano
Harp I-II
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Crash Cymbals
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Triangle


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

La Bal de Béatrice d'Este is a charming post-Romantic chamber work appropriate to university performers. Its brief movements represent stylizations of Baroque Italian entertainment music. Conductors should note that two proficient harpists are required as the harp (and piano) parts play a prominent role in textural and melodic development. There are expressive markings in the parts, so players should be prepared to interpret parts with care. Consider performing this work in an intimate venue to allow the audience to appreciate the varied nuances in this piece.

- Notes from Great Music for Wind Band


In writing the ballet Le Bal de Béatrice d'Este in Paris in 1905, but setting it in fifteenth-century Milan, Hahn blurs the line between Renaissance Italy and fin-de-siècle France. Although the ballet does not seek to retell an actual historical occasion, the work is firmly based within a historical context. Béatrice (1475-1497) was of the Italian noble family Este who ruled Ferrara from 1240 to 1597 and was celebrated for significant patronage of the arts throughout the Renaissance. In 1490, she married Ludovico Sforza the Moor, Duke of Milan. During Ludovico’s reign, Milan was praised as the “new Athens”; he lavishly supported the humanities, many of the greatest artists of the day (including Leonardo da Vinci) resided in Milan to be near their patron. Béatrice, Duchess of Milan, was singularly noted for her tremendous beauty and charm, as well as for her love poetry and dancing; her grand balls were regarded highly throughout Italy.

Within the framing processional and recessional, the interior movements of the suite consist of three Renaissance dances (although with a subtly more modern sensibility), a character sketch of Béatrice’s sister Isabella (“Ibérienne’), and an impression of da Vinci’s controversial painting Leda and the Swan.

- Program Note by Steven Dennis Bodner


Dedicated to Camille Saint-Saens.

- Program Note from score


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Maryland (College Park) Wind Orchestra (Michael Votta, conductor) - 6 October 2023
  • Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Penn.) Wind Ensemble (George Vosburgh, conductor) - 15 October 2022
  • University of Colorado Boulder Wind Symphony (Donald McKinney, conductor) - 7 December 2020


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources