IBERT, JACQUES: Deux Interludes
Deux interludes suivi de Carillon from Le Burlador was inspired by the 1920s fascination with Iberia (modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar). Composed in 1946 by French composer Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert, this piece of incidental music created as an afterthought has long since outlived the initial Spanish play. Le Burlador, originally written in 1936 by playwright Suzanne Lilar, is a reinterpretation of the myth of Don Juan from the female perspective. Lilar was a Flemish Belgian essayist and novelist writing in French and in 1925 became the first woman to receive a Law Degree from the State University of Ghent thus becoming the first woman lawyer in Antwerp.
Born in Paris in 1890, Ibert began his musical studies on the violin and piano at the age of four. After obtaining his baccalaureate, Ibert decided to devote himself to composition. He joined Emile Pessard’s harmony class at the Paris Conservatoire in 1910 and went on to Gédalge’s counterpoint class in 1912 and Paul Vidal’s composition class in 1913. Gédalge also advised his pupils on orchestration and organized a private class for the best of them. It was in that class that Ibert met Honegger and Milhaud. In 1919, Ibert won the Prix de Rome for his cantata Le poète et la fée, and in 1937, he became the director of the French Academy in Rome. From 1955 to 1957, Ibert directed Paris’s Opéra-Comique and composed a number of operas, such as L'Aiglon, and the operetta Les Petites Cardinal. His best known works include Divertissement, based on his incidental music for Eugène Labiche's play Un Chapeau de paille d'Italie. In the course of the work he comically quotes many pieces, including Mendelssohn's Wedding March. Among his film scores is the one for Orson Welles' version of Macbeth from 1948. In 1956 Ibert wrote the work Bacchanale to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the BBC Third Programme. Its premiere was given by Sir Aynsley Eugene Goossens.
Although not a member of Les Six, Ibert’s music shares some strong characteristics with theirs. His music was considered to be typically quite “light” in character, often witty, colourfully orchestrated with attractive melodies. Neither atonal nor serial, and very rarely polytonal, Ibert’s harmony relates closely to the Classical tradition. He makes regular use of chords of the 9th, 11th, and 13th and also utilizes altered and added-note chords. His orchestration is always transparent and avoids undue complexity, showing a good understanding of instrumental possibilities.