Sylphides, Les

Sylphides, Les (The Sylphs). Ballet in 1 act, orig. called Chopiniana, arr. to mus. of Chopin, choreog. Fokine. Prod. St Petersburg 1907 (Pavlova among dancers). This first version used 5 pieces orch. by Glazunov: Polonaise in A, Op.40 No.1, Nocturne in F, Op.15 No.1, Mazurka in C♯ minor, Op.50 No.3, Waltz in C♯ minor, Op.64 No.2, and Tarantella in A♭, Op.43. Rev. version by Fokine prod. St Petersburg 1908 with additional pieces orch. by Maurice Keller. This comprised Polonaise in A, Op.40 No.1 (in most Western versions Prelude in A, Op.28 No.7), Nocturne in A♭, Op.32 No.2, Waltz in G♭, Op.70 No.1, Mazurka in D, Op.33 No.2, Mazurka in C, Op.67 No.3, Prelude in A, Op.28 No.7, Mazurka in C♯ minor, Op.50 No.3, Grand Waltz in E♭, Op.18 No.1. Later Fokine choreographed Mazurka in C, Op.33 No.3 as alternative to Op.67 No.3. Revived by Diaghilev, Paris 1909. Extra items were scored by Tcherepnin and Lyadov, and Stravinsky rescored the Nocturne in A♭, Op.32 No.2 and the Grand Waltz in E♭, Op.18 No.1. One of most popular ballets in repertory. Eng. versions have used Chopin arrs. by Roy Douglas, Gordon Jacob, and Malcolm Sargent.