Far from constituting an isolated work in the work of Camille Saint-Saëns, the Choir of sylphs belongs to a small ensemble produced at the start of his career in the specific context of the competition for the Prix de Rome. Established in 1803, abolished in the wake of the events of May 1968, the latter was for more than a century and a half the most coveted French prize for musical composition. Organized by the Institute, it guaranteed to its laureates, failing the assurance of a future career without pitfalls, at least entry by the front door into the artistic world and a few years of pension in Italy, at the villa Medici. In fact, very few resisted the appeal of this award, which is likely to mark the culmination of long years of study. That a personality like Saint-Saëns presented himself there is not really surprising. But although called to become at the turn of the century one of the most illustrious representatives of academic art, he never obtained, despite two participations, the famous first grand prize. The competition was then organized in two distinct tests: the first, eliminatory, consisted in the realization of a fugue and a choir with orchestral accompaniment on a given poem, the second in the composition of a large cantata for three. solo voices. Saint-Saëns himself wrote two, Le Retour de Virginie (1852) then Ivanhoé (1864).
It was between June 5 and 11, 1852, for his first participation in the competition, that Saint-Saëns composed the Choir of sylphs. Favorably received, it allowed the musician to be placed at the head of the six candidates admitted for the final round. But it is true that objectively the proposed poem had everything to allow it to shine. Taken from a libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Nicolas Lefebvre, Zirphile et Fleur de myrte, already set to music by Charles-Simon Catel (1818), the chosen extract (act I, scene 4) was particularly suited to the 'exercise. In a few firmly drawn pages, Saint-Saëns manages to transcribe the marvelous atmosphere, all in lightness, of the world of the spirits of the air. In many ways, the result is reminiscent of the “Scherzo” of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1843), a composer to whom he truly worshiped. Of course, like any early work, the Chorus of Sylphs was written under the influence. In view of the Prix de Rome, the piece had also been designed to meet various requirements that some denounced in principle as backward-looking. Beyond these somewhat simplistic reservations, the work nonetheless remains a successful example of the great French academic tradition and its ideal of elegance and clarity. Behind his undeniable mastery of form and writing, the author reveals a work which, without being revolutionary, conceals undeniable beauties.
Cyril Bongers
Brand reference number:
SYMETRIE0231804652
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