The work was produced in collaboration between
Gabriele D'Annunzio (at that time living in France to escape his creditors) and
Claude Debussy, and designed as a vehicle for
Ida Rubinstein. Debussy's contribution was a large-scale score of
incidental music for orchestra and chorus, with solo vocal parts (for a
soprano and two
altos). Debussy accepted the commission in February 1911. Some of the material was orchestrated by
André Caplet. The premiere had sets and costumes designed by
Léon Bakst, stage direction by Armand Bour and choreography by
Michel Fokine. The orchestra was conducted by
André Caplet, and
Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht directed the chorus. Alongside Rubinstein as Saint Sébastien,
Adeline Dudlay sang La Mère douloureuse,
Véra Sergine sang La Fille malade des fièvres,
Ninon Vallin was the off-stage voice, Desjardins was the emperor, and
Henry Krauss was the préfet. Though the first
Gabriel Astruc production was attended by scandal (the
Archbishop of Paris requested Catholics not attend because the dancer playing St. Sebastian was a woman and a Jew), the work was not successful and did not enter the repertoire; thanks to Debussy's score, however, it has been recorded in abridged and adapted versions several times, notably by
Charles Munch (in French),
Leonard Bernstein (sung in French, acted in English), and
Michael Tilson Thomas (in French). The days leading up to the first performance, which took place on 22 May 1911 at
Théâtre du Châtelet, the Archbishop of Paris,
Léon-Adolphe Amette, threatened excommunication for any Catholic who attended the performance, due to the work mixing the sacred and the profane too much, not clearly opposing pagan forces towards Christianity, and even suggested an assimilation of
Adonis, the handsome youth who fell for
Aphrodite, to Sebastian. Moreover, Sebastian was portrayed by
Ida Rubinstein, a Jewish woman. Though Debussy's complete score still exists and can be performed in its original form (including linking narration taken from the original play, if the story is not staged), the work is very seldom heard in this way. More often performed is a four-movement orchestral suite made up of music extracted from the score and subtitled 'Fragments Symphoniques' (
Symphonic Fragments). In addition, there are also two short
brass fanfares which are sometimes presented with the symphonic fragments. Though the play was not a success, the suite was given a British premiere on 24 August 1915 at the
Promenade Concerts at
Queen's Hall, under the baton of
Henry Wood. ==
Mystère en cinq actes==