The Metamorphoses of the Ballet ‘Les Noces’

Leonardo. Vol. 12, pp. 137-143. Pergamon Press Ltd. 1979. Printed in Great Britain. THE METAMORPHOSES OF THE BALLET ‘LES NOCES’* Natalia Goncharova (1881-1 962)** It was called ‘Svadebka’, the ‘Little W.edding’, at first, when the music was onlyjust begunand I guessDiaghilev was thinking more about ‘Liturgie’, which was only a project, than of ‘Les Notes'-that is to say, it was the summer of 1915. Having written this date, it occurs to me that Stravinsky had spoken to me of a project-still vague-for a ballet, which might be made about the rites of country weddings, in the spring of 1914 after the performance of ‘Coq d’Or’ by Rimsky-Korsakov at the Paris National Opera. Towards the end of 1914 Larionov and I received an invitation from Diaghilevto leaveMoscow and come and work with him abroad. At that time it was a question of ‘Chout’ for Larionov and ‘Liturgie’ for me. Stravinsky livedat Morges, a few kilometres from Lausanne (Ouchy) and he often came to see us. As far as I remember, he was working on ‘Les Noces’ and used to play fragments of it, playing and singingall the voices. ...When ‘Liturgie’was abandoned I began making sketchesfor ‘LesNoces’, then Diaghilevasked me to designcostumes for ‘Sadko’,which he wanted to produce in the U.S.A.. ..In December 1915, when Diaghilev and his company left for the U.S.A., I resumed work on the sketches for costumes, decorations and curtains for ‘LesNoces’[Figs. 1,2,4-81. At that time it was the festive, folk aspect of weddings that stood out for me, the colourful costumes and dances that connect weddings with holidays, enjoyment, abundance and happy iritality. Therefore the costumes I designed were derived from peasant forms and vivid colours, harmonized sometimes in unison, sometimes by opposites, almost without intermediates, and this applied to decorations and curtains as well. Often, while I worked, I remembered a great village wedding festival, which I attended while still a child. There were too many guests for the izba (log hut), and they werecrowded round a large table, the first row seated, the others standing, wiping their large faces with embroidered towels. They were all shouting, eating and, above all, drinking. I can still see this picture. I also thought of the days when the air was buzzing with bees, scented with honey, ripe strawberries and newly-cut hay. In order to cut and turn the hay, the whole village was working together, dressed in their best clothes, in gay prints and beautiful hand-woven materials. The women and young girlshad their heads covered with scarves of all colours. The weather was hot and heavy, their faces were *This is a part of the article published in Russian in Russkiy Arkhiv (Belgrad), (Nos. 20-21, 1932). Translated from a French version of the original text by Mary Chamot, Flat 1.57 Melbury Road, London W14 8AD, England. **Biographical information on this Russian artist is provided in the annex of this Document. reddish-brown. These were the images I had in my mind when I was working on the first version of ‘Les Noces’, and many other imagesas well ...Trinity Sunday, always gay and full of greenery, the houses and the church decorated with birch-branches and flowers on the floor, on the table and in the hands of the peasants. The Sun was shining on the white church, and the altar was aglow with gold and paintings. Certainly there was enough material to make ‘Les Noces’ joyful, colourful, decorated with flowers and sprays. Yet at all these festal occasions there were always some people who were not partaking in this happiness-the beggars, the miserable cripples, who wandered from village to village. Their appearance, the colour of their Fig. 1. Natalia Goncharova. Male costumefor ‘LesNoces’ (Jirst version). watercolour andgouache, 38 x 26.5 cm, 191415. 137 138 Natalia Goncharova Fig. 2. Natalia Goncharova. Female costumefor ’Les Noces (first version), watercolour and gouache. 38 x 26.5 cm. 191617. clothes and of their facesdid not change, whether it was a holiday or a workday. Nevertheless no festival took place without them. They would be seated in front of...