Daphnis et Chloe, Suite 2 (NCPE. McAlister)

Maurice Ravel's ballet music “Daphnis et Chloé” was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes and is considered one of the most significant orchestral works of French Impressionism. The Second Suite, which Ravel distilled from the complete work in 1913, encompasses the ballet's three concluding scenes and can be performed as a self-contained concert piece.

In terms of sound, the work stands as a prime example of Ravel's masterly art of orchestration: richly coloured woodwind combinations, two harps, celesta, and a generously scored percussion section conjure a shimmering, almost ethereal sound world that oscillates between antique idyll and sensuous vitality. The score shows Ravel at the height of his late Romantic-Impressionist style — harmonically refined, rhythmically precise, and of extraordinary orchestral transparency.

Within the context of early twentieth-century French music, “Daphnis et Chloé” stands in a lineage with Debussy's sensuous sound aesthetic, yet surpasses it in orchestral brilliance and structural rigour. To this day, the work remains a benchmark both for the conducting repertoire and for the sonic culture of great symphony orchestras.