Symphonic Variations (ballet)

The premiere, performed by the Sadler's Wells Ballet, took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 24 April 1946 in a triple bill; the other works were Ashton's Les Patineurs and Robert Helpmann's Adam Zero.

[1] 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.

[3] 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.

A V Coton of The Daily Telegraph asserted in 1967 that Symphonic Variations "remains [Ashton's] 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".

[11] 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".

"[13] 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.