What does Bacchanale mean? Surely it means some sort of dance in French. It turns out, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary that Bacchanal can refer to orgy. Bacchanal probably came from the word Bacchanalia, which refers to a Roman festival for the god Bacchus, god of wine, festival, and madness. In the modern sense, he is the god of modern frat parties.
In this light, I realize that the stage direction of Met Opera’s iteration of Bacchanale from Samson and Dalila was perfectly in line with the name of this piece. Bacchanale presents an orgiastic celebration for the defeat and capture of Samson, and it is clearly not the Met Opera’s discretion to paint it in such a manner. I find this piece rather troubling as it is clearly othering the Philistines and paints them as essentially the polar opposite to a civilized, Christian society.
Locke points out that Saint-Sans uses the Arab Hijāz mode throughout Bacchanale.[1] On one hand, he is representing the otherness of the philistines in the opera using an Arabic mode. On the other hand, the appearance of the Hijāz mode corresponds to a consistent switch in the style of dance. Instead of prancing in a manner, I say similar to ballet, the dancers move in a more slimy and undulating manner. Timestamps for when these events occur are 0:00, 2:05, 3:15, and 6:17 from the Met’s recording of their 1998 performance.
http://metopera.org/season/on-demand/opera/?upc=811357011324
I see similar stage directions in other performances of Bacchanale such as the Met’s 2018 performance and 1983 performance. I should think that the music’s pairing with the stage direction was very intentional in these performances. I do not know if this was explicitly stated that the dancers should dance differently, but if there was no explicit direction, then it would be a testament to how persistent musical constructs can be. It is common sense that diatonic European music would be accompanied by brisk and precise movements, while more chromatic sounds would be accompanied by more fluidic movements. Modal and chromatic sounds would be accompanied by even more fluidic movements, and perhaps more sexual too. There must be a reason why I am receptive to these cues, even though I am removed a century and a half from the conception of this opera.
I am also curious about how other composers have written their Bacchanals. Michael Kennedy lists several other similarly themed pieces from other compositions. [2]
This one is from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe
https://haverford.nml3.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=8.570992
Track 15
Alexander Glazunov’s The Seasons
https://haverford.nml3.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=7178
Track 14
John Cage’s Bacchanale
https://haverford.nml3.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=3614598817499
Track 26
Toshiro Mayuzumi’s Bacchanale
https://haverford.nml3.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=8.573916
Track 2
These pieces clearly do not invoke the same response in me as Bacchanale in Samson and Dalila.
[1] Locke, Ralph. The Work of Opera: Genre Nationhood, and Sexual Difference. Columbia University Press.
[2] Kennedy, Michael, and Joyce Bourne. Kennedy. The Oxford Dictionary of Music 2nd ed., rev. Oxford ;: Oxford University Press, 2006.
