Brandenburg

Brandenburg is a plotless neoclassical ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music drawn from Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. It was created for the New York City Ballet and first performed on January 22, 1997, at the New York State Theater in New York. The work is Robbins's final ballet and is generally regarded as a late summation of his interest in musical structure, ensemble movement, classical form, and the expressive possibilities of dancers moving together without a literal narrative. The score combines the complete Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 with selected movements from Concertos Nos. 1, 2, and 6. The musical arrangement gives the ballet a substantial, energetic structure while allowing Robbins to contrast full-company formations with smaller groupings and pas de deux. The cast comprises four principal dancers and a corps de ballet of sixteen, making a total of twenty performers. Rather than assigning characters or depicting a story, the ballet uses steps, spatial patterns, rhythm, and changing formations to create its atmosphere. Jean-Pierre Frohlich, Robbins's ballet master, characterized it as a plotless work in which the steps generate the mood. Robbins began developing Brandenburg in 1995, after returning to Bach in the later phase of his career. He had previously choreographed The Goldberg Variations in 1971, and Bach's music also informed several of his other late ballets. The initial conception was a pas de deux for New York City Ballet principal dancers Lourdes Lopez and Nikolaj Hübbe. Robbins later expanded the project by adding Wendy Whelan and Peter Boal and bringing in the corps de ballet. The creative process was unusually extended and demanding. Robbins worked intermittently for approximately two years while coping with serious health problems, including mitral valve replacement surgery, symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease, and balance difficulties after a fall. The choreography emphasizes rapid transitions, intricate geometric configurations, communal movement, and alternation between principal-dancer duets and larger ensemble passages. Observers have compared the shifting designs to a kaleidoscope. The ballet also contains echoes of earlier Robbins works, including Dances at a Gathering, The Goldberg Variations, Glass Pieces, Fanfare, Interplay, and Fancy Free. Its large-scale classical organization and emphasis on dancers as dancers rather than dramatic characters make it both a new work and a reflection on Robbins's established choreographic language. Holly Hynes designed the costumes, which use peasant-inspired attire, while Jennifer Tipton designed the lighting. Robbins gave Hynes precise instructions regarding the colors and relationships among the fabrics, requiring repeated dyeing adjustments. The production was supported by the New York City Ballet's New Combination Fund, an initiative established to support new choreography. The premiere was scheduled on the birthday of George Balanchine, the company's late co-founder, as part of the first event in an annual series associated with that date. Brandenburg became Robbins's final completed work. He died in 1998, and the ballet consequently occupies a distinctive place in the history of his career. Its combination of Bach's formal richness, densely organized ensemble choreography, and late-career reflection on movement has helped preserve it as part of the New York City Ballet repertory.

Brandenburg emerged from Jerome Robbins's renewed engagement with Johann Sebastian Bach during the final period of his career. Robbins had earlier used Bach's music for The Goldberg Variations in 1971, but he returned to the composer decades later for several late works. Brandenburg was developed beginning in 1995 and eventually became the most substantial of these projects. Robbins described Bach's music as rich, exciting, thrilling, and unsettling, emphasizing that he heard in it an exploratory quality rather than the distant sound of an old musical master. The ballet began as a proposed pas de deux for New York City Ballet principals Lourdes Lopez and Nikolaj Hübbe. Robbins initially did not explain whether the experiment would remain a duet or grow into a larger composition. He subsequently introduced Wendy Whelan and Peter Boal and expanded the work to include a sixteen-member corps de ballet. The final structure uses four principal dancers and sixteen corps dancers, creating a twenty-person ensemble capable of moving between intimate pairings and large communal patterns. The creation period was complicated by Robbins's declining health. He worked intermittently for about two years while undergoing mitral valve replacement surgery, experiencing symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and dealing with balance problems after a fall. Because he could no longer demonstrate movement as freely as before, he often had to formulate sequences completely before presenting them to the dancers. Members of the cast recalled that Robbins repeatedly revised and showed portions of the ballet to different observers. Peter Boal later estimated that Robbins created roughly ninety minutes of material, of which approximately forty minutes were retained in the finished ballet. The finale was particularly difficult to complete, and company leader Peter Martins eventually urged Robbins to conclude the work after its prolonged development. The resulting ballet is plotless and does not assign individual characters or implied relationships. Its dramaturgy comes from the musical score and the organization of bodies in space. It opens with a festive, folk-like group movement, then alternates duets for the principal dancers with intricate ensemble formations. Critics and commentators identified kaleidoscopic qualities in the rapid transformations and dense spatial patterns. The work also recalls several earlier Robbins ballets, including Dances at a Gathering, The Goldberg Variations, Glass Pieces, Fanfare, Interplay, and Fancy Free, while presenting those interests through an especially concentrated late style. Holly Hynes designed the costumes and used peasant-inspired clothing. Robbins provided detailed color guidance, including instructions about the balance among green, yellow, and blue, and the fabrics were repeatedly redyed during development. Jennifer Tipton created the lighting. Financial support came through the New York City Ballet's New Combination Fund, which had been established to encourage new choreography. Brandenburg premiered on January 22, 1997, at the New York State Theater, performed by New York City Ballet. The date coincided with George Balanchine's birthday and formed part of the first event in an annual series connected with that occasion. The ballet received strong critical attention, including praise from Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times, who highlighted the speed and density with which Robbins moved bodies through space. Following Robbins's death in 1998, Brandenburg was recognized as his last work and became an important closing statement in the choreographer's repertory.

• 1998

  Recognized as Robbins's final work

  [1]Brandenburg (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  After Jerome Robbins died, Brandenburg was identified as his last completed ballet.

• 1997

  World premiere

  [1]Brandenburg (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  New York City Ballet premiered Brandenburg on January 22 at the New York State Theater in New York.

• 1995

  Development begins

  [1]Brandenburg (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Robbins began developing Brandenburg, initially as a pas de deux before expanding it into a work for four principal dancers and a sixteen-member corps de ballet.

• 1971

  Earlier Robbins-Bach collaboration

  [1]Brandenburg (ballet)en.wikipedia.org

  Jerome Robbins used Bach's music for The Goldberg Variations, establishing an earlier connection between the choreographer and the composer later renewed in Brandenburg.

A large-scale, plotless neoclassical ballet that combines Bach's Brandenburg Concertos with intricate ensemble choreography and a late-career synthesis of Jerome Robbins's movement language.

• Ballet · 1997

  Brandenburg

  A plotless neoclassical ballet for four principal dancers and a corps de ballet of sixteen. The choreography is set to the entirety of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 together with selected movements from Concertos Nos. 1, 2, and 6. Its structure alternates principal-dancer duets with fast-moving ensemble formations and uses spatial design, rhythm, and changing group relationships rather than narrative or character development.

1. 1Brandenburg (ballet)en.wikipedia.org