Gounod’s “Faust” Ballet Music
Notes by TŌN percussionist Cooper Martell
Charles-François Gounod was a French composer known primarily for his operas. He wrote Faust, his most famous opera, in 1859. His “Ballet Music” was added for the production at the Paris Opera to fulfill the French Grand Opera tradition. Gounod initially refused to write the ballet music and asked Camille Saint-Saëns to do it for him. Eventually he conceded, and his “Ballet Music” is now more frequently performed as a suite in concert than in performances of the opera.
The added ballet, in seven movements, occurs at the beginning of the fifth and final act of Faust, when Méphistophélès distracts Faust from his guilt toward Marguerite, the love interest he has abandoned, by promising him the love of the most beautiful women in history. In a series of intoxicating illusions, Faust is visited by historical figures including Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, and finally Phryne. The suite is a whirlwind of character and emotion, opening with a portentous introduction of repeated chords in the brass, resembling a warning, and quickly lightening into a carefree waltz. From there the music takes us on a journey, becoming romantic and even flirtatious in the adagio, mischievous in the Antique Dance, teasing in the Cleopatra Variations, dreamy in The Trojan Women, and playful in Mirror Variations. The final movement, Dance of Phryné, is a rollercoaster in itself, beginning frantic and dizzying, abruptly becoming light and charming, and then just as suddenly returning to the agitation and ending in a frenzy. After this disorienting hallucination, Faust is reminded of Marguerite in a vision and rushes to save her.