Jann Pasler - Stravinsky and the Apaches

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Stravinsky and the ApachesAuthor(s): Jann PaslerSource: The Musical Times, Vol. 123, No. 1672 (Jun., 1982), pp. 403-407Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/964115.

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StravinskyndtheApachesJann aslerBeforeWorld War I, Stravinsky as involvedwithnotone buttwo vant-garderoupsnParis.With hebetter-known ne,the BalletsRusses,he launched is career n1910. Workwith hiscompany n the Firebird1910),Petrushka 1911) and The Rite ofSpring 1913) not onlychanged hehistoryfmusic,dance and setdesignbutalso edStravinskyomany fhismost ignificantnnova-tions.Yet these fruitfulollaborations ereonlya partofStravinsky'sife between1910 and 1914. The othergroup,heApaches, rovided erhapsust s significantstimulusor isexperimentalompositionndcertainlysnourishingn environmentorhis artistic evelopment.Manyunpublishedettersnd ittle-knownources evealhowimportanthisgroup's upportwas in Stravinsky'scompositionfTheRite f pringnd howtheirestheticpreoccupationselpedmotivate is decision o setThreeJapanese Lyrics.Stravinskyeferso this carcely nownunderground'ofFrench riendsna letter f14October 912:1There re woParis's,ne hat ivesmefame ndmoneyndwhoseemptationsat waytmy italslmost ithout y e-ing ware f t.The other s Maurice '3 ruedeCivry' who,withoutealizingt, crapesway llthe irtyusinessfthe'Great eason f heBallets usses'.He explains:2'Maurice'...and hese our ords,3 rue eCivry' I don'teven now ow o ell ou ow ear heyre omeOhhowfeellike omingo ee ou nd pendingeveralutumnays gainwith ou nthatittle ouse hatilentlyontains emoriesfourharmoniousife f yeargo.Farfromhe rouhahaf he'Great eason f heBallets usses',ne s calm nd ntimatetherenthat ittle ousewith ts ittle ooms hat have hegreatestesire o seeagain. ldman Weabsolutelyust ettogethert is impossibleot o hearwhat ouhave one ndhow ou ave een uringur eparationf roundivemonths.Of the manygroupswhich musthave befriendedStravinskyn Paristhen, heApaches tandoutas par-ticularlyear to thecomposer. hese friends,he com-posersMauriceRavel,Florent chmitt, auriceDelage,Paul Ladmirault nd Edouard Benedictus, he poetsLion-Paul Fargue and TristanKlingsor,the criticsMichel Calvocoressi nd EmileVuillermoz,hepianistRicardoVifies,he pera oachMarcelChadeigne,he etdesignersaulSordes ndGeorgesMouveau, he onduc-

torD. E. Inghelbrechtnd the ithographereon Pivet,among thers,atheredvery aturdayveningfteron-certs, eginningn1902.3When, oming utof concertononeoccasion,hegroupostled newspapereddler nthestreet, e nicknamedhemApaches', slang xpres-sionmeaningrowdy oungmen'.Because heyaw hem-selves n rebellion gainst raditional usic,Vifies ug-gested hey dopt henamefor heir ociety.Motivated ytheir ommon dmirationorDebussy'soperaPellias etMilisande,which hey eltwouldchangetheir ives as well as the course fhistory,heApacheswere formed to 'further the success of suchcompositions'.4n weeklymeetings,heydiscussed heopera's esthetic. ut oon hey egan layingndreadingto each other heir wn recent reativework n whatFargue ndVi-nes oth alled thefriendliesttmospherethat anbe imagined'. his part f Paris was exciting,fraternal,otexpensive, otnasty, otpolitical,ndonewhere oucouldget patontheback tany ime'.Herealso it seemed hat verythingas still o be done, obeinvented,nd everyone new hat, nd thatwas in theair'.5While t firstheApachesmet ntheirMontmartreapartments,hey ought placewhere hey ouldplaymusic all night.MauriceDelage's rental f an isolatedpavilion t 3 rue de Civry n Auteuil ed thegroup osouth-westaris eachSaturday y wayof the ocal trainfrom heGareSaint-Lazare, ithinwalking istance ftheOpera.Stravinsky'sonnection ith heApachess not urpris-ing,for thisgroupwas long fascinated ith Russianmusic.Borodin,Musorgsky,imskyilled s with nthu-siasm',wrote lingsor.6ight-readingussianmusicwasone of theirfavouritectivities. avelbrought ll thescoreshecould from elaieff,ublishersfthismusic nFrance.7These informal erformances,ocumentednVifies'sournal,8 erenotwithout onsequence. nderBalakirev's nfluence, avel composedhisJeuxd'eau.9

1 Letter in Stravinsky rchives; to appear in Igor Stravinsky:SelectedCorrespon-dence,d. andannotatedyRobert raftNewYork ndLondon,1982) transla-tions funpublishedmaterialsrebythepresentuthor nless therwisetated).2 ibid

3 Morethan nyother ource,Vi-ies's ournal ocumentshesemeetings. hejournalsunpublished,ut xcerptsppearn NineGubish, a viemusicaleParisentre 1887 et 1911 a travers e ournal de Ricardo Vi~ies diss., Universityof Paris,1977). Another source to mention them is Maurice Ravel par quelques-uns e sesfamiliers Paris, 1939).4 Victor eroff: avel NewYork, 953),169;SeroffndicateshatDelage s hissource ornformationntheApaches.5 Leon-Paul argue: our a peintureParis,1955), 5-66 'L'6poque Ravel', Ravel par quelques-uns e sesfamiliers,1307 M. Delage: Les premiersmisde Ravel', bid,1018 Viflesmentionsumerouserformances,speciallyour-handianoversionsforchestral orks;mong hepiecesperformedere ymphoniesyBorodin ndBalakirev,Antar, Thamar, Stenza-Razine and Fantaisie orientale.9 Klingsor,p cit,130 403

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Borrowinghename f Rimsky-Korsakoviece hihzdra-zade,Klingsorwrote cycle fpoemswhichRavel atersettomusic;he alsoexperimentedith hecompositionof imple unes nder he mpetusfRussian omposers'use offolksong.10he theme fBorodin's econdSym-phony ecame hepasswordhegroupwhistledo draweachother's ttentionfteroncertsndtoget he part-ment oor pened.The critic alvocoressi asprobablyheonemost es-ponsible or hisRussian nterest. uthor f a bookonMusorgsky nd numerous rticles n Russianmusic,Calvocoressi eptnclose orrespondenceith alakirev,lectured requentlynRussianmusic ndeven rrangedconcerts f t nParis." Since,among heApaches,whatwas known o one of themwas immediatelyommuni-catedto all',12Calvocoressi'sontactwith heRussianswasvery mportanto thegroup.WhenDyagilev ame oParis n 1907for hehistoriconcertsfRussianmusic(forwhichCalvocoressi rote heprogrammeotes),hecritic roughthe mpresarioohisfriends ho tried opersuadehimto produceBorisGodunov ather hana

Tchaikovskypera hefollowingear.13Dyagilev's ommissionfRavel'sDaphnis tChloe n1909 nduced heApaches obegin ttendingheBalletsRussesrehearsals.fterne,Ravelwrote oDelageathiscountry ome: Old man,youmust ake eaveofyourgaloshes.. ThisgoesfurtherhanRimsky. omequick-ly. I am waiting oryouto returno theFirebird. ndwhat n orchestra... '.4 Drawing is nformationromDelagehimself,eroff rote:'5Firebirdad n mmediateuccess ithhe aris ublicnd heApaches elcomedhe 2-year-oldomposernto heir idsts

one f heirwn.Asamatterf act,ebecameheastmember- the astApache- to ointheir ameratanRue de Civry.To theApaches,Stravinsky]epresentedirstf lla symbolofthenew riginal;eepitomizedhe ontemporaryrendnRussianmusic.His artwas thecontinuationf that ftheMighty iveandparticularlyfMusorgsky.usorgskyadtakenWagner'slacen he yes f he renchnd travinsky'sattitudeowards agneras nperfectarmonyithhat f heApaches.The rolethat heApachesplayed n Stravinsky'sifebecomes learthrough iscorrespondence.s for thermembers, rue de Civryprovided travinsky ith nidealenvironmentor ryingut his atest ompositions.In hisAutobiography,travinskyotes hat ftermeeting'Debussy,Ravel,Schmittnd Manuelde Falla' aroundthe ime f heFirebird,the pprobation,ndeven dmi-ration,xtendedo meby he rtisticndmusicalworldngeneral, but moreparticularlyby representativesf theyoungereneration,reatlytrengthenede in regardothe plans which had in mind forthe future'myitalics).16The group's nthusiasmndsupport asespeciallym-portant uringhewritingf TheRite f pringrom911to 1913.During hat ime, elage'shome ecame refugefor travinskyhile way rom isfamilynSwitzerland.On 21 November 911,Stravinskyrote oBenoisfromClarens: 'I have ustbeento Paristwice.The firstripwasvoluntary,rest fter trenuousomposing. stayedat Delage's and had barelyarrivedback herewhenDyagilev ummoned ebytelephone'.7 travinskyusthave tayed ith elage nMay1912 swell, or is etterof 14 October1912 quoted bove)mentionsheir ive-montheparation. letterf11April oCalvocoression-firmshis:TheRitewill oonbe finished.willplay tformyfriends,mongwhomyou are one of the first'.18Florent chmitt eferso still another nformalerfor-mance ftheRiteforhisApachefriendsnNovemberfthatyear.He reportsnLa France:19In afarawayavillonfAuteuil,hichromow nwill emindmeof themostmagnificentftemples, r IgorStravinskyplayed he ite f pringormy riends.neday will escribetoyou he are eautynd evelationthoughrivate)f his ewprooff heyoung ussianomposer'senius.hiswork as,allby tself, oremportancehanll othermusic hat anbeplayedt hismomentnywheren heworld.tcontainsiberty,newnessnd ife.Six monthsfterhepremieref heRite travinskyond-lyrememberedhese imes nd wrote oDelage:20Oldman ntouch 11Nov1913I dream f omingo eeyou nd f pendingeveralayswith

10 ibid; n hisChansonse maMire'Oye,Klingsorried o createmelodieshatareboth imple ndspicy, esemblinghose fouroldtraditions'.11 Calvocoressi was'critic for La revuemusicale,Comoedia,La nouvelle evue ran-;aise, La revuemusicalede Lyon and the Russian journalApollon.His lettersfromBalakirev are published in Bulletinde la Societi Internationale e Musique (15 July1911),1 11. In his ournal,Vifiesmentions alvocoressi'sectures n Russianmusic 23May 1905,11Dec 1905,13 Dec 1906 nd 10Dec 1910)because ftenthepianist erformedxcerptsf Russianmusic or hem.OtherApaches lsomaintainedmportantontactwithRussia.Vinies otonlyregularly erformedussianmusic n France, utalso occasionallyravelled operform renchmusic there. His journaldocumentshis performancesfBalakirev's Valsede Bravura and Islamev, Borodin's Petitesuiteas well as some ofhis.melodies, imsky-Korsakov'soncerto, usorgsky'sicturest anExhibitionas well s his rip oRussia nSeptember900.OtherApacheswhovisited ussiawerePaul Ladmiraultn 1906, s reportedntheRussian ournal e toison 'or,and Calvocoressin 1912, s describednhismemoirs, usicians' Gallery: usicand Ballet in Paris and London (London, 1933).12 Seroff,p cit,16313 Calvocoressi,p cit, 6;Calvocoressilaims hat e andRavelhadbeen tudy-ing hiswork ince1904 ndfelt tfar uperioroany f heTchaikovskyperaswhichDyagilev ad n mind.14 Seroff,p cit,16115 ibid. travinskylso haredwith heApaches curiositybout choenberg.ntheway oRussia, oth travinskyndCalvocoressitoppednBerlino hear omeofSchoenberg's usic. travinskyrote oFlorent chmitt22Jan 1913) allingSchoenberga remarkablertist'BibliothiqueNationale, aris Pn],autographlettera.1114).With isreturn,alvocoressiroughtcopy fSchoenberg'sar-monielehre.he workfascinatedheApachesnot omuchby ts echnicalitiessby tsphilosophy'.WhenSchoenberg'shamber ymphonynded na riot,theApacheswere n an uproar ustas ifthepiecehad beencomposed yone ofthemselves'Seroff,p cit,163;Delagewashissource).

16 Autobiography New York, 1936), 30- 3117 Vera Stravinsky nd Robert Craft:Stravinsky n Pictures nd Documents NewYork, 978), 318 ibid,8619 RobertCraft: La genesed'uni hef-d'oeuvre',heRiteofSpring ketches1911 1913 London,1968), viii20 Pn, a.1.20404



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Stravinsky 1911) at thepiano at whichhe was to compose The Rite', hehimselfwallpaperedtheroom,at Les Tilleuls

you ll in the ittlemuseum. hat doesn'tmean hat ou houldnot ome o visitme atmy ittle hatelard otel a museum,must ay, lot moremodesthanyours ... I don'tknowwhy,but each fall s soonas itgets little ool andbegins orainbegin o feel nuncontrollableesire ocome o seeyou 3ruedeCivry) ndtosharewithyouall that have houghtndcreatedduring ur ongseparation and to see and hearwhatyou'vedone (especiallynow ). I can't wait to hear and to see themelodieswith he ittle rchestra. am taken p every econdwithwork - proofs,,omposition,orrectionsorRossignol.Maybe 'll come taywithyou n order o relax ndmaybe oon.Yours,yours I StravinskyThe Apaches were also good companionsto Stravinskyand helped in the problems of daily life. Probably themost mportant fthegroupin thisrespectwas Delage.21Inferring romDelage's responseto Stravinsky'setter f14 October 1912, in which Delage refers to the '15wonderfuldays thatwe spent together n Paris, just thetwo ofus', RobertCraft uggests hatDelage 'would seemto havebeen Stravinsky's losestFrenchfriend'.22 esidesacting as host to Stravinskyn Paris on numerous occa-sions, Delage visited the composer in Switzerland andeven stayed with his familywhile Stravinskywas inBudapest in January1913. Delage also helped deliver hismanuscripts, gain him admission to the Societ6 desAuteurs,and mediate withthe press i.e. in theMontjoiepublicationof the specious interviewwithStravinsky).nhisAutobiography,travinsky ointsout that,duringthelongweeksofhis illnessafter hepremiere fthe Rite:23MauriceDelagewaswithmeconstantly... I wasgreatlyt-tractedyhisbuoyant isposition,ndI much ppreciatedhedelicacy nd penetrationf his musicalfeeling,o whichhiscompositions alas far oofew n number bearwitness. ewas also giftedn many therways, o thathewasvery oodcompany.Besides appreciatinghis personality hen,Stravinsky n-joyed the music of this little-known tudent of Ravel.AlthoughDelage never achieved much reputation n hisday, Stravinsky onsidered him an accomplished com-poser. He wrote:24

Lausanne17 I 1914My dear,very earMaurice really nderstood hatwas inyourettersndreproachmyselfor avingwrittenoyouyester-dayasking ornews boutmyJapanesemelodies.Itwasthatwasnot ure fthey rebeingplayed.)But with ll that tcon-tainsof thepurityndbeauty fyour rtisticoul,your ettertouchedmeprofoundly.f hadn'tknown single ageofyourmusic, ouretterlonewouldhaveproved omethat ou re nartist fthevery irstrder.But knowyounotonly s a manbut also as a composern whom have lwayshadthegreatestconfidence.findyousatisfied ithyourwork.Old man 'vefelt hat few imes. know hat oumust e happy. embraceyou from hebottom f myheart nd anxiouslywaityourpoems. sense hatwewillseeeach other oon.I won't orrecthenumerousmistakesn order onothavetorereadndmess pthese ineswith heir reat ffectionor ou.IgorP.S. Me and Catherinerevery appy ohavea daughtergreatoy For themoment,atherinendthe ittle irl redoingfine.Fargue even calls Delage, 'the man the most saturatedwith music that I know, a man crazy about music'(perhaps because Delage, who began composing aroundthe time of Pellias and had a sizable inheritance,neverneeded to practise anyotherprofession).More than withanyotherApache, Stravinsky's orres-pondence with Florent Schmittrevealswhythe group's

21 Stravinskypent imewith therApaches s well. After earing ragmentsfDaphnis tChlodround he ime f heFirebird,travinskyharedRavel'sboxonopeningnight, June1912, longwithDelage,Schmitt, avel,his motherndbrotherV. StravinskyndCraft, p cit,102).Ravel and Stravinskylso workedtogetherlosely n theorchestrationfMusorgsky's heMarriage or Dyagilevproduction.alvocoressiranslated any exts sedby Stravinskyn hiscomposi-tions etween 910 nd1914- the Two oems fVerlaine,wo oems fBalmont,King f he tars nd theNightingale. hile n tour n SwitzerlandnJune 912,Vifies isited hecomposert Clarens. etters lsodocument isfriendshipiththeRosicrucianomposer 6n6dictusV. StravinskyndCraft,p cit,102).22 ibid,7223 op cit,5024 Pn,a.l.19

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supportand friendshipwere important o him. For onething,he was not as well understood elsewhereand, foranother,through he group he got to know directly hemodern traditions of the French avant garde. On 18September1912, Stravinskywrote:25You wellknow hat haveno value nmy wnadmirableoun-try. venMr Zilotiwhobegan y dvancing y areernded pdeclaringhatmymusic idnothave he uccesshemight avewished or. hat swhy esuggestedhat writemore igestiblemusic. Even thissummer e wroteme thathe was very n-terestednPetrushkandthat,whilehewas inParis,heheardcontradictorypinions bout t entirelynexpected).sn'tthat ice?Afterllthat,what oyouwantmeto dowith iloti?Inaddition,nnoyed ithmy uccessesnotherountries,riticsaredeclaringhat havenooriginality,hat amnot t theheadof movementthat'smalicious),utthat,o the ontrary,amjustfollowingn the ineof the nobbistheories. nd all thatafter aving eard heworks hat receded etrushkathathasnotyetbeenplayed n Russia,even n concert ersion)...Afterll that,whatdo youwantmeto do?In a letter f 16 January1913, Stravinskyikewisecom-plains of theViennesereception f Petrushka:26I am just returningromVienna wherethe famous'operaorchestraabotagedmyPetrushkaikethenastiest ig. Theydeclaredhat uch nugly ndnastymusic ouldnotbeplayedanybetter han hat.Old pal You cannotmaginehe roublesand nsults hat heorchestraaveme.Schmitt'sresponseobviously omfortedtravinsky,orhewroteagainon 22 January:27It wasreally surpriseormeto readmy ettercorrected)nLaFrance,ven hought waswithin our rticle youarereallyadmirable ? ?flatter yself oweverhat heViennese ansomehow ecome ware fthese ines,The sympathetic, eceptiveatmosphereof the Apacheswas certainlywelcome relief in a world hostile to hisradical experimentation.Stravinsky as also drawnto theApachesbecause of anintense nterestn Frenchmusic at that time. While cor-recting heproofs f Petrushkaa manuscriptncidentallyowned until recently by Delage's nephew) and whileworking n Kingofthe tars,Stravinsky rote o Schmitton 20 July 1911: 'I am only playing French music -yours,Debussy, Ravel. It is goodforme - youknow - agreat onsolation n our Russian desert'.28 n 2 February1912, he adds:29Whensyour rilliantalome oing o ppear o that can pendmany appy ours layingt onstantlyromeginningoend odistraction?must dmit hat t s thegreatestoy hat work farthas givenme for longtime.Andthat'swithout latteryBelieveme I amproud hat t is dedicated ome. In my astshortrip oParis thatook lace gainnNovember),broughtDyagilev's ttentionoit while ommunicatingllmy cstasy.

Such startlingtatements evealhow quicklyStravinskybecame involved with the French avant garde. Eventhoughhe had admiredFrench musicsince hisyouth, nyFrench influence n his musicwas overshadowedby thatof his teacherRimsky-Korsakov ntil he came to Paris.PlayingonlyFrenchmusic afterhe arrivedundoubtedlyhad an important ffect n his composition.One workthatcertainly ame out of his associationwiththe Apaches is Stravinsky's Three Japanese Lyrics.Althoughnumerous uthorshavepointedoutconnectionsbetweenthis workand Schoenberg'sPierrot unaire,30heApaches' influenceon this work has gone unnoticed.Referring o two Apache preoccupationsthat underliethiswork, his son Theodore Stravinskypoints out: 'Acommon taste for Japanese art and the similarityoftheir researches into aesthetics at that time formedthe substance of the friendshipbetween Ravel andStravinsky'.31Stravinsky'snterest n Japaneseart reacheda peak in1912. Early thatspring,he received ettersfromDelagewho was in Japan doing businesswithhis father.On hisreturn, travinsky orrowed ome engravings nd maybeas well some Japanesetexts,for n October he wrotetoDelage, 'I have yourJapaneseprints n a drawerwaitingforyou'.32With French translations rovidedbyDelage,Stravinsky egan to studytheJapanesetexts n summer1912. BetweenOctober and thefollowingJanuary, e setthreeof them to music.In hisAutobiography,travinsky otesthatthe impres-sion whichthese shortpoems made on him 'was exactlylike thatmade byJapanesepaintings nd engravings. hegraphic solution of problems of perspectiveand spaceshownbytheir rt ncitedme to find omething nalagousin music'.33 It is possible that Stravinsky iscussed the'graphicsolution'of such problemswith anotherApache,Leon Pivet,a professional ngraver nd friend fMauriceDenis whose lithographs nd paintingsweredramaticallyinfluencedby Japaneseart. Japaneseengravingsdo notfollow the traditionalpractice of giving the illusion of

25 Pn,a.1.1226 Pn,a.1.1327 Pn,a 1.1428 Pn,a.1.629 Pn,a.1.8

30 Several avepointedo nfluencen thiswork ySchoenberg'sierrotunaire:PierreBoulez: 'Trajectoires: avel,Stravinsky,ch6nberg', elevisd'apprenti(Paris, 1966),241 65; RobertGronquist:Ravel's Troispodmes e StiphaneMallarme, usicalQuarterly,xiv1978),507-23; PierreMeylan:Igor travinskyand MauriceRavelontcollabor6 Clarens n 1913',Revue e a SuisseRomande(March1965).OnlyMeylan oints ut hat hisnfluence asprobablyuperficial.InStravinskynPicturesndDocumentsp.107),we earn hat ot nly idStravin-sky inish he irst apaneseyricnOctober 912, womonthsefore efirsteardSchoenberg's ork, uton the ketchesrom hat ate, travinskylso ndicatedhis orchestrationor hamber roup. ince theargumentor choenberg'sn-fluence estslargelyn their imilarcoring,hese ketches ould eem odenysignificantnfluencen this egard.31 Catherinend gor travinsky:Family lbumLondon,1973),32 V. StravinskyndCraft,pcit,108; 1912photographf travinskynfrontfhis living-roomall fullof Japanese ngravingshows the important laceJapanesert ccupied nhis ife tthe ime.33 op cit,45; inhisPoeticsNewYork, 947), 4,Stravinskyefines he lawsofopticalperspective's thosewhich onlyrender istincthoseobjectson thenearest lanes'.

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Stravinskyt Beaulieu-sur-mer,pring911

distance y allowing omeobjects o fadeout; instead,they uxtapose olours nd planes,giving two-dimen-sionalmpression.nhisThree apanese yrics,travinskylikewise experimentswith juxtaposing nstrumentalgroups, oneof whichfunctionss background.Withinthetexture,ach nstrumentalolour s distinct. travin-sky's rhythmicnd metricplay comesfrom epeatingideas n differenthythmicnd timbralontexts,hat s,various lacementsn thebar and in a varietyf nstru-mental ombinations.n thiswayhe creates notion fmusical paceother han he raditionalne ofmelodyndaccompaniment.Stravinsky'sreatmentftheJapaneseext eflects otonlythewaythatJapanese deograms ork- throughjuxtapositionf mages atherhanogical evelopmentbutalsoa symbolistttitudeowards ords. everal f heApacheswrote oetryswell s music ndpresentedothfordiscussion t theirmeetings,ndStravinskyrobablyexploredhis deawith hem.nhisThree apanese yricsStravinskyreatsanguage bstractly,s domany renchand Russian ymbolistoets.Each syllable eceives nequaver xcept n a barat the centre f Mazatsumi. hisorientationowards hesyllable ather han heword, swellas theunitpulserather han hebar,remained ithStravinskyhroughoutis ife.Stravinsky'snterestnJapanesertbrings ttentionoanother estheticdea that inkedhimwith heApaches.Just as Delage once called Stravinsky 'Japanesecalligrapher',erhapsbecauseof thecalligraphyn hissketchesof ThreeJapanese Lyrics,Roland-Manuellikewise omparedhis friend elage witha 'Japanesesculptorf vory'.34othdescriptionsmplyhenotion fthe rtists an artisanwho makes ebellious ature up-ple and whodisciplines orms'.n an interview,elageexplained,35Actually, do everythingike Japaneser-

tist" ho follows he veinof thewood,and who,whennecessary,hangeshis subject o adaptto the material'.The comparisornfStravinsky'srt ocalligraphyointsto several spects fStravinsky'shree apanese yrics.With tsuse ofone nstrumentoa part nd onenote oasyllable, is anguages clear ndconcise. he studiedr-regularityfhisphrases ndpauses givethe ine a free,almostmproviseduality.n spite fsimilarmaterialnthe nstrumentalnd vocalparts f hefirstong nd con-trasting aterial etween hem n the hird ne,Stravin-sky reates linear ounterpointf ndependentesturesthat verlap ach other nd function ith especto eachother nvariousways hroughouthework.Three apanese yricswasdedicated o threeApaches,Delage,Schmitt ndRavel, ndrepresentsheir ommoninterestt that ime nthe esourcesf small hamber r-chestra.tspremiereook laceon 14January914, longwith Delage's Four Hindu Poems and Ravel's ThreeMallarmdPoems,worksthatuse almostthe same in-strumentationndwerewrittenuring hesameperiod.In a lettero Schmittyearnadvance, travinskyfferedthe work o theSocieteMusicale ndependente.or itspremiere,travinskyvenvolunteeredoplaythepiano,whileheaskedDelagetoengage singer orhim.36With hewar, heApachesbegan odisband. travinskyhad lessoccasion o cometoParis.OtherApachesbegantomarrynd thecardinal ule okeepwomen ut broketheir formalassociation'.37 et despite an aestheticdistance hatbegan o separatehem n the1920s,whenRavel and Delage expresseddislike for Stravinsky'sMavra,38heirmpact nhis ife efttsmark. heir om-mondisdain or heRomantic otions f nspirationndgrandiose entimentnd their nterestn craftsmanshipand controlled expression play central roles inStravinsky'sestheticwritingsf the 1930sand 1940s.HavinghadtheopportunityodiscussnotonlyJapaneseart and the implicationsf Pelleas,but also symbolistpoetry nd therelation etween oetryndmusicgaveStravinsky wealth of knowledge nd understandingabout hanges t the ime n all arts.His association iththeApaches aid thefoundationor ater llianceswithother rench oets, rtistsndmusicians.

34 G. Bender: Entretien vec Maurice Delage', Le guidede concert,um6rosp6ciale6 July 956),129335 ibid. Ravel ndDebussywere lso fascinatedy Japanesert ndcalligraphy.In April 1913,Ravel beganto use an ideogram or igning is name, ust asDebussyhad beendoingfor fewyearssee ettern Ravel u miroire es ettres,ed. RendChalupt).36 Pn,a.l.14,dated22Jan191337 Seroff,p cit,20938 Pn,a.1.18 oDelage,datedJune 923

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Jann Pasler - Stravinsky and the Apaches

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