Le cygne

"Le cygne", pronounced [lə siɲ], or "The Swan", is the 13th and penultimate movement of The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. Originally scored for solo cello accompanied by two pianos, it has been arranged and transcribed for many instruments but remains best known as a cello solo.

For the academic journal, see Le Cygne (journal).
A swan (Cygnus olor) at the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany
Swan, inspiration for Saint-Saëns' piece Le cygne

Music

The piece is in 6/4 time, with a key signature of G major and a tempo marking andantino grazioso. The slow cello melody is accompanied by almost constant broken chord figurations on the pianos. When performed as a separate movement, not in the context of The Carnival, "The Swan" is frequently played with accompaniment on only one piano.

This is the only movement from The Carnival of the Animals that the composer allowed to be played in public during his lifetime. He thought the remaining movements were too frivolous and would damage his reputation as a serious composer.

Because of its slow tempo and mostly legato performance indications, the movement is suitable for performance on the theremin and has joined Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" and Jules Massenet's "Méditation" from his opera Thaïs among the classical works central to the theremin repertoire.

"Le cygne" illustrates the fleeting nature of beauty with its interpretation of the legend of the "swan song": A popular (albeit erroneous) belief among the ancient Greeks and Romans, who regarded the swan as the most beautiful of animals, was that the mute swan is silent until its final moments of life, during which it sings the most beautiful of all birdsongs.

Transcriptions and adaptations

Uses in choreography
Further information: The Dying Swan

"Le cygne" is often known as The Dying Swan, after a poem by Tennyson. Inspired by swans that she had seen in public parks, Anna Pavlova worked with choreographer Michel Fokine, who had read the poem, to create the famous 1905 solo ballet dance which is now closely associated with this music. According to tradition, the swan in Pavlova's dance is badly injured and dying. However, Maya Plisetskaya re-interpreted the swan simply as elderly and stubbornly resisting the effects of aging; much like herself (she performed The Swan at a gala on her 70th birthday). Eventually the piece came to be considered one of Pavlova's trademarks.[1]

"Notte Stellata (The Swan)" by Yuzuru Hanyu
Hanyu performing to "Notte Stellata (The Swan)" at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion, Yuzuru Hanyu, used Il Volo's adaption of Saint Saëns' "Le cygne", titled "Notte Stellata (The Swan)", as a program music at exhibition galas of various major skating competitions, including the 2017 World Championships, 2018 Winter Olympics, and the 2019–20 Grand Prix Final.[2][3] The song was suggested to him by Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova and choreographed by David Wilson from Canada.[3]: 2 

Hanyu performed the program as a tribute to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On March 11, 2011, he was practising at his home rink in Sendai, when the earthquake hit the north-east coast of Japan. The program is a reflection of his own memories, having experienced a blackout at the evacuation center on the night of the disaster. In 2018, Hanyu performed the program at the annual charity event 24-hour TV "Love Saves the Earth" on Nippon TV.[4] His upcoming ice show with the title Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata 2023 will be a special commemoration event of the earthquake, held at the Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Rifu on 10–12 March, 2023.[5]

Hanyu's program served as inspiration for the ballet performance "Notte Stellata" by the American Crescendo Conservatory, lead by Christina Valdez, at the Kauffmann Performing Arts Center in Kansas City, Missouri on June 16, 2019.[6][7]

Other choreographies

In 1949 the American synchronized swimmer Beulah Gundling created a routine inspired by Fokine's choreography and entitled "The Swan" to "Le cygne" by Saint-Saëns.[8]

References

Citations
  1. Garafola 2005, pp. 155–156.
  2. 羽生に大歓声エキシビションで「星降る夜」の華麗な舞い [Big cheers for Hanyu's brilliant performance to "Notte Stellata" at the exhibition gala]. Sports Nippon (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022.
  3. Oriyama, Toshimi (December 21, 2020). 羽生結弦がタラソワ氏から贈られたプログラムで披露した成長 [The growth that Yuzuru Hanyu showed in the program gifted by Tarasova]. Sportiva (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Shueisha. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020.
  4. 『24時間テレビ』羽生結弦、ふるさとへの想い込め得意技披露 [24-hour TV: Yuzuru Hanyu shows off his special skills with a message for his hometown]. Oricon (in Japanese). Minato, Tokyo. August 25, 2018. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019.
  5. "Hanyu Yuzuru to bring new ice show "notte stellata" to home prefecture Miyagi in March". International Olympic Committee. Lausanne. January 10, 2023. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023.
  6. Gallagher, Jack (May 9, 2019). "Salute to Hanyu: U.S. Ballet troupe paying tribute to legend". The Japan Times. Chiyoda, Tokyo. ISSN 0447-5763. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019.
  7. Jiwani, Rory (May 18, 2019). "Yuzuru Hanyu inspires ballet and piano tributes, and meets Alysa Liu". International Olympic Committee. Lausanne. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022.
  8. Heim 2006, p. 88.

Sources
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