Daphnis et Chloé is a 1912 symphonie chorégraphique, or choreographic symphony, for orchestra and wordless chorus by Maurice Ravel. It is in three main sections, or parties, and a dozen scenes, most of them dances, and lasts just under an hour, making it the composer's longest work. In effect it is a ballet, and it was first presented as such. But it is more frequently given as a concert work, either complete or excerpted, vindicating Ravel's own description above.
Set design by Léon Bakst for the world premiere of Daphnis et Chloé, Paris 1912.
Michel Fokine, Daphnis et Chloé, circa 1910
Joseph Maurice Ravel was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.
Ravel in 1925
Joseph Ravel (1875), Marie Ravel (1870) and Maurice Ravel aged four (1879)
Piano class of Charles de Bériot in 1895, with Ravel on the left
Gabriel Fauré, Ravel's teacher and supporter