[1902-1976]

Miroslav Ponc - Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel (Svatebčané na Eiffelce) op.11

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Year
1926/28
Time
14'
Instr.
Esklar. Klar. Fag. Trb. 1/4Harm. 1/4Pno. Vl. Metronoom ad lib.
Edition
ms.
CD
Around Prague 1922-1937 Channel Classics CCS 34813, see Discography

The mystery play The Wedding Party on the Eiffel Tower (Svatebčané na Eiffelce) by Jean Cocteau and the composers’ group ‘Les Six’ had a mixed reception at the 1921 premiere. This absurdist, satirical ballet (with two speakers) enjoyed greater success in 1923 in New York.
Ponc composed new stage music in 1926 for a new production in the ‘Entfesselte Theater’ ('Liberated Theatre') in Prague.
Through the combination of two quarter-tone instruments (piano and harmonium), percussion and five diatonic instruments, the rather simple music has a most deregulatory effect, as if gravity pulls sideways.
The Suite from this music, compiled by Ponc (reconstructed in 1981 by Štěpán Koníček) and first performed in 1931, brought the composer a degree of international recognition.

First performance as stage music : September 1926

First performance of the Concertsuite: Prague, June 7, 1931 cond. O. Jeremiáš

The Ebony Band played the concertsuite in Amsterdam and Utrecht in 2000, and in Prague (Rudolfinum) in 2004