This month Declan Zapala reduces an orchestra to just six strings with his arrangement of this quirky and chirpy pizzicato movement from Delibes’ ballet masterpiece.
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a composer from the Romantic period lauded internationally for his operas and ballets. Born in Saint-Germain-du-Val in France in 1836, Delibes was an only child who showed prodigious musical ability in his youth. His fine singing voice was noticed, and as a youth he sang in church choirs and even at the Paris Opera. He was accepted to study at the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 12 and quickly excelled at piano, organ, and composition. He would later return to the Conservatoire where he taught composition.
While still a student Delibes was appointed organist at a local church and became accompanist for the opera company Théâtre Lyrique. Through the latter he became proficient at playing many famous operas by his peers and contemporaries; these included The Marriage Of Figaro and Faust. Having already been exposed to opera from his mother’s side of the family, herself the daughter of an opera singer, it is no surprise that Delibes went on to be a prolific composer of opera music. His early stage works, first performed in 1856, were comedy operas. From this point on he continued composing comic operas, at the rate of about one a year. These were well received and showed off Delibes’ artistic flare when composing music that was humorous in nature; something evident in his Pizzicati from this month’s arrangement.
His legacy is particularly strong today as many of his ‘ear worm’ tunes are regularly referenced in mainstream popular culture - the famous Flower Duet from his opera Lakmé (arranged in this magazine by Bridget Mermikides way back in issue GT199), aside from being a popular concert piece has been frequently used in TV, film, and video games. Recent references include the film Meet The Parents and the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2, but regrettably many of us will simply know Flower Duet as the music from the British Airways commercials, which it has been for well over 30 years. This month’s arrangement is Delibes’ other famous ear worm, the Pizzicati from his ballet Sylvia. Popular in cartoons throughout the 80s and 90s including the absurd Ren and Stimpy ‘Powdered Toast Man’ episode as well as multiple appearances in The Muppet Show.
After a successful life in music, as musician, teacher and composer, De
