Maurice Ravel - Valses nobles et sentimentales

 

Scene from the 1912 ballet Adélaïde, ou le langage des fleurs, the orchestral and choreographic incarnation of Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales.

The seven Valses nobles et sentimentales and their epilogue were originally composed for solo piano in 1911. With this title, Maurice Ravel paid a conscious homage to Franz Schubert, who had published two collections of waltzes in 1823 under the titles Valses nobles and Valses sentimentales. Rather than imitation, Ravel sought a modern reimagining of the waltz, filtered through his own harmonic language and aesthetic sensibility.

The work was first presented in Paris at a concert of anonymous compositions, a fashionable practice of the time. Many listeners reacted with hostility, disturbed by the deliberately abrasive harmonies and unexpected dissonances, never suspecting that the “wrong notes” belonged to one of France’s most admired composers.

In 1912, Ravel orchestrated the suite and transformed it into a ballet titled Adélaïde, ou le langage des fleurs (Adelaide: The Language of Flowers), revealing the music’s remarkable capacity for color, movement, and dramatic atmosphere.

Musical Character

The opening waltz immediately establishes that this is no conventional dance: its dynamic, angular gestures disrupt the traditional elegance of the genre. The second waltz, by contrast, unfolds slowly and expressively. For this languid atmosphere, Ravel assigns the melody to the flute in its lower register, creating a veiled, introspective color.

A relaxed oboe introduces the third waltz, which more clearly recalls the traditional waltz rhythm. Without pause, the music flows into a livelier fourth section. The clarinet then presents the dreamy fifth waltz, where the characteristic triple meter becomes increasingly obscured.

In the brief sixth waltz, traditional rhythmic patterns re-emerge. Restless figures in the strings and woodwinds build a gentle climax, while percussion—used sparingly—adds a rare touch of brilliance. Just as suddenly, the music dissolves and fades away.

The seventh waltz begins with a slow introduction, marked by syncopated figures in the horn and harp, before recalling the rhythmic energy of the opening. The music intensifies and comes to rest on a dissonant chord. A tender central episode follows, leading to a return of the initial material.

The epilogue is slow and highly expressive. Instrumental lines intertwine and separate, while muted strings (con sordino) create a hushed, suspended atmosphere. In the final moments, horn, trumpet, and tambourine offer a distant echo of the waltz, before a solo clarinet, accompanied by harp, strings, and celesta, gently brings the work to a close.