During the Second World War, Ashton listened to Franck's Symphonic Variations a great deal and he decided to develop an elaborate scenario to be set to the music. Constant Lambert, music director for the Sadler's Wells Ballet, at first objected to the use of Franck's music for a ballet; Ashton dropped his original scenario and created an abstract ballet. During the war, the repertory had become increasingly literary, and Ashton's purpose was to counteract this. It was not his intention to display ingenuity of invention but to construct a more abstract piece, setting three men and three women dancing on the vast expanse of the Opera House stage uncluttered with scenery and effect.
Description
The critic A V Coton described the ballet:
Casts
In the opening season the cast was
Margot Fonteyn
Moira Shearer
Pamela May
Michael Somes
Brian Shaw
Henry Danton
In the following season Shaw and Danton were replaced by John Hart and Alexander Grant. In the first production and early revivals the work was regarded as making such demands on the dancers that they took no part in any other ballet on the same evening's bill. Margaret Dale in conversation with David Vaughan commented, "Even though Symphonic Variations more than any other ballet creates a feeling of serenity, for the dancers, in the beginning it was an 'absolute marathon', and made demands on them that had never been made before.... It was a test of sheer stamina that very few British dancers could stand at that time."
Critical reception
From the premiere onwards the work has been highly regarded by critics. The Manchester Guardian called the choreography "rare, brave and stimulating", with the reservation that the prominence of the concertante piano part in the score was not mirrored in a similarly prominent part for the prima ballerina. The Observer thought the piece "charming and exciting". The Times said: Later critics have regarded the work similarly highly. A V Coton of The Daily Telegraph asserted in 1967 that Symphonic Variations "remains absolute and indisputable masterpiece – a perfect fusion of ideas about stylised dance, light, space, romantic-lyric music and heroic costume – which creates a spectacle that calls into question the value of almost every other ballet in the modern repertoire". John Percival of The Times remarked of the same production, "Fittingly, the centrepiece of this programme was a revival of Symphonic Variations … as many of us think the best work ever created for this company". In 2004, Cristina Franchi described it as "A pure classical dance work of great beauty and simplicity."
Revivals
In November 1967, the Royal Ballet staged a revival of three works by Ashton: Symphonic Variations was part of that triple bill with Les Patineurs and Persephone. The dancers in Symphonic Variations were:
