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. The dance scenario was adapted by choreographer Michel Fokine from a pastoral romance by the Greek writer Longus thought to date from the 2nd century AD, recounting the love between the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé. Scott Goddard in 1926 published a commentary on the changes to the story Fokine had to apply in order to make the scenario workable. Composition and premiere Ravel began to write the score in 1909 after a commission from impresario Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, completing it some months before the premiere of the staged work. This took place at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 8 June 1912, with sets designed by Léon Bakst, choreography by Fokine, and the orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux. Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky danced the shepherdess and goatherd. Musical description At almost an hour long, Daphnis et Chloé is Ravel's longest work. Four discernible leitmotifs give it musical unity. The music, some of the composer's most passionate, is widely regarded as some of his best, with extraordinarily lush harmonies typical of the Impressionist movement; even during the composer's lifetime commentators described it as his masterpiece for orchestra. Suites of excerpts Ravel extracted music from the symphonie to make two orchestral suites, which can be performed with or without the chorus. The first was prepared as early as 1911. That is, before the staging. The second, essentially Partie III of the whole, was issued in 1913 and is particularly popular. (When the complete work is performed it is more often in concert than staged.) Ravel adhered to his description of the music in his formal titling of the suites: Fragments symphoniques de ‘Daphnis et Chloé’ (Nocturne—Interlude—Danse guerrière), 1911, commonly called Suite No. 1 Fragments symphoniques de ‘Daphnis et Chloé’ (Lever du jour—Pantomime—Danse générale), 1913, or Suite No. 2 Instrumentation Daphnis et Chloé is scored for a large orchestra consisting of: Woodwinds 1 piccolo (doubling 3rd flute)