Editing Léo Delibes (section)

==Music==
{{See also|List of compositions by Léo Delibes}}
In Macdonald's view, Delibes' early compositions are clearly influenced by and in the tradition of [[François-Adrien Boieldieu|Boieldieu]], [[Ferdinand Hérold|Hérold]] and Adam, Delibes' composition teacher at the Conservatoire, from whom he had the example of "a sparkling operetta style". Later, consciously seeking to move from light popular works into a more elevated genre, his works show the influence of [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]] and Gounod, as well as the slightly younger [[Georges Bizet|Bizet]] and [[Édouard Lalo|Lalo]]. Macdonald observes that in notices of Delibes' early music the same terms frequently recur: "wit, charm, elegance, grace, colour, lightness".<ref name=grove/> ''The Musical World'' said of him, "If not the greatest French composer of his day, Delibes was the most characteristically French, and it can hardly be said that in his own line he leaves any successor of equal excellence".<ref name=mw/>

===Opera===
''Le Roi l'a dit'' is a light opera in which "elaborate vocal ensembles and witty pastiche play a major part" (Macdonald). The more serious ''Jean de Nivelle'', one of the works showing the influence of Meyerbeer and Lalo, is generally weightier in tone, with some lapses into the composer's lighter style in such pieces as the Act III couplets, "Moi! j'aime le bruit de bataille".<ref name=grove/> The chorus "Nous sommes les reines d'un jour" in the Act I finale continually switches between {{music|time|2|4}} and {{music|time|3|4}} with what Macdonald calls "a [[Mode (music)|modal]] melody of striking originality".<ref name=grove/>

[[File:Lakmé-act-1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|''[[Lakmé]]'', Act I, 1883]]
''Lakmé'' – which ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'' ranks as Delibes' masterpiece, even above ''Coppelia'' and ''Sylvia'' – shows the influence of Bizet, with echoes of ''[[Carmen]]'' and ''[[Les pêcheurs de perles]]'' in the harmonic techniques and subtleties of orchestration.<ref name=grove/> The opera is sometimes seen as a vehicle for a star soprano,{{refn|Productions of ''Lakme'' in the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries were often mounted for stars including [[Luisa Tetrazzini]] and [[Lily Pons]].<ref>Holden, p. 212</ref><ref>"Revival of 'Lakmé'", ''The Musical Times'', July 1910, p. 445; and [https://www.nytimes.com/1942/12/18/archives/lily-pons-in-lakme-receives-many-curtain-calls-at-metropolitan-in.html "Lily Pons in 'Lakmé"], ''New York Times'', 18 December 1942</ref>|group=n}} but Macdonald writes that the two principal male characters, Nilakantha and Gérald, are strongly drawn, and the music is "melodic, picturesque and theatrically strong". Macdonald expresses reservations about the dramatic [[recitative]], which he finds tending to the conventional;<ref name=grove/> the work was originally conceived as an opéra-comique with spoken dialogue, and the recitatives were an afterthought.<ref>"Waifs", ''The Musical World'', 4 August 1883, p. 486</ref> ''Lakmé'' remains on the fringes of the operatic repertoire. It was produced at the Opéra-Comique in 1995, starring [[Natalie Dessay]],<ref>Stevens, David. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/22/style/IHT-picturebook-lakme.html?searchResultPosition=2 "Picture Book Lakmé], ''New York Times'', 22 February 1995</ref><ref name=as>[https://www.lesarchivesduspectacle.net/?Parametre=Lakme&pbRechercher=  "Lakmé"], Les Archives du spectacle. Retrieved 14 January 2020</ref> but has not been staged by the [[Metropolitan Opera]] since 1947,<ref>[http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm "Archives"], Metropolitan Opera House. Retrieved 14 January 2020</ref> or at the [[Royal Opera House]] since 1910.<ref>[http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/work.aspx?work=1134&row=4&letter=L& "Lakme"], Royal Opera House Performance Database. Retrieved 14 January 2020</ref> [[Operabase]] and Les Archives du spectacle record details of occasional productions in Europe and elsewhere.<ref name=as/><ref>[https://www.operabase.com/en "Lakmé"], Operabase. Retrieved 14 January 2020</ref> The work was staged by the [[Seattle Opera]] in 1967 with [[Joan Sutherland]] in the title role, and in 2000 with [[Harolyn Blackwell]],<ref>[https://www.seattleopera.org/search/?q=Lakm%c3%a9 "Lakmé"], Seattle Opera. Retrieved 14 January 2020</ref> and by the [[New York City Opera]] in 1984.<ref>Crutchfield, Will. [https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/16/arts/is-it-time-once-more-for-lakme.html?searchResultPosition=4 Is it Time Once More for 'Lakme'?"], ''New York Times'' 16 September 1984</ref>

''Kassya'', complete except for the orchestration when Delibes died, was edited and orchestrated by [[Jules Massenet]], whose skilful work was praised by reviewers.<ref name=kassya/> It had its premiere two years after Delibes' death, and was respectfully received, but the general view was that it showed the composer's creative gifts in decline.<ref name=kassya>"The Drama in Paris", ''The Era'', 1 April 1893, p. 9; and Noël and Stoullig, p. 110–111</ref> It ran for twelve performances.<ref>Noël and Stoullig, p. 138</ref> Macdonald finds points to praise: the oriental inflections in the music, the vocal writing, and the "fine close to the first scene of Act 3, with snow falling on the deserted stage".<ref name=grove/>

===Ballet===
{{listen|filename=Delibes pizzi sylvia.ogg|title=Divertissement - Pizzicato|description=Divertissement - Pizzicato from ''Sylvia'' — 3081 KB|format=[[Ogg]]}}
[[Image:Sylviascore.gif|thumb|upright=1.38|The first few bars of Pizzicato from ''Sylvia'']]
Influenced by Adam, ''Coppélia'' makes extensive use of leitmotifs for character and mood, and contains some vivid musical scene-painting.<ref name=dc>Craine, Debra and Judith Mackrell. [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199563449.001.0001/acref-9780199563449-e-709 "Delibes, Clément Philibert Léo"], ''The Oxford Dictionary of Dance'', Oxford University Press, 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2020 {{subscription required}}</ref> Delibes greatly enlarged on Adam's modest use of leitmotifs: each leading character is accompanied by music that portrays him or her; [[Noël Goodwin]] describes them: "Swanilda in her entry waltz, bright and graceful; Dr. Coppélius in stiff, dry counterpoint, the canonic device ingeniously applied also to Coppélia, the doll he has created; Franz in two themes, each sharing the same melodic shape of the first four notes, but the second having a more sentimental feeling than the sprightly first theme".<ref name=ng>Goodwin, Noël. [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195173697.001.0001/acref-9780195173697-e-0480"Delibes, Léo"], ''The International Encyclopedia of Dance'', Oxford University Press, 2005. Retrieved 14 January 2020 {{subscription required}}</ref> Delibes made extensive use of characteristic national dances, including the [[bolero]], [[czardas]], [[jig]] and [[mazurka]], continually interspersed with waltz rhythms.<ref name=ng/>
In the opinion of several critics, the score of ''Sylvia'' surpasses that of ''Coppélia''.<ref name=dc/><ref name=ng/> [[Tchaikovsky]] was greatly impressed by it, calling ''Sylvia'':

{{blockquote|The first ballet in which the music constitutes not just the main, but the sole interest. What charm, what grace, what melodic, rhythmic and harmonic richness. I was ashamed. If I had known this music earlier, then of course I would not have written ''[[Swan Lake]]''.<ref>''Quoted'' in Bullock, p. 67</ref>}}

[[Carl Van Vechten]] shared Tchaikovsky's view that Delibes revolutionised ballet composition: "Before he began to compose his ballets, music for dancing, for the most part, consisted of tinkle-tinkle melodies with marked rhythm." In Van Vechten's view, Delibes revolutionised ballet music by introducing in his scores "a symphonic element, a wealth of graceful melody, and a richness of harmonic fibre, based, it is safe to hazard, on a healthy distaste for routine". Van Vechten considers Delibes' scores to be the forerunners of 20th-century ballets such as [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s ''[[Jeux]]'', [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Daphnis et Chloé]]'' and [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Petrushka (ballet)|Petrouchka]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 737861|title = Back to Delibes|last1 = Van Vechten|first1 = Carl|journal = The Musical Quarterly|volume = 8|issue = 4|pages = 605–610|year = 1922}}</ref>

After ''Sylvia'', Delibes's only composition for dance was a suite of six dances for the Comédie-française production of ''Le Roi s'amuse'',  The dances, in a pastiche of antique style, show a keen ear for the nuances of period character in Goodwin's view. They are not often played in concert and are more familiar in recordings.<ref name=ng/>

===Mélodies===

The pianist and musical scholar [[Graham Johnson (musician)|Graham Johnson]] quotes the musicologist Fritz Noske's view that Delibes' songs derive from the chansonnette, "lighter and more entertaining than the [[Romance (music)|romance]], and less susceptible to the German influence of the [[lied]]". In his songs, Delibes shares with Bizet "a natural feeling for the theatre, and an ability to spin local colour", as in his chanson espagnole "Les filles de Cadix". Of other early songs, Johnson describes "Eclogue" and "Bonjour, Suzon" as "charm[ing] us with their unpretentious gaiety and delicacy, as well as their economy of means". Some of the songs evoke the period style of the 16th century, such as "Avril", "Chanson de l'oiseleur" and "Myrto", the last of which is a pre-echo of mélodies by [[Gabriel Fauré]]. Johnson finds Delibes more suited to reflective than to passionate sentiments, and, in general, better in more of his earlier songs than his later. He brackets Delibes with his junior contemporary [[Reynaldo Hahn]] as songwriters – "charmers both [with] a similarly eighteenth-century idea of the role of music in refined society: the unashamed giving of pleasure".<ref>Johnson, pp. 129–130</ref>