Servais - Andante cantabile et Rondo à la Mazurka sur un Air de Balfe (Urtext Edition, Quintet Version)

Servais’s Andante cantabile et Rondo is a substantial concert fantasia based on Michael William Balfe’s 1836 opera The Maid of Artois, itself drawn from Abbé Prévost’s novel Manon Lescaut. Its source is “Il piacer,” a two-part vocal number comprising the cavatina “Il piacer che inonda” and the cabaletta “Ognor costante t’amarò,” known in English as “The Rapture Dwelling Within My Breast.” The opera premiered in London on 27 May 1836, with the celebrated Maria Malibran in the role of Isoline. Servais was in London at the time and likely heard the opera there; he also had personal contact with Balfe, as both appeared in concerts in the city.

The fantasia was later dedicated to Alfredo Piatti, whom Servais had met in Russia in 1845. The connection between the two cellists was evidently mutual: Piatti dedicated his Introduction et Variations sur un Thème de Lucia di Lammermoor, Op. 2, to Servais, and several of Servais’s works were preserved in Piatti’s personal library. Surviving performance records for the Andante cantabile et Rondo date from 1848, 1851, and 1852, though the work was likely performed more often.

Structurally, the piece follows the operatic cavatina-cabaletta model, opening with a lyrical Andante cantabile and continuing with a brilliant fast movement titled Rondo. Servais’s designation of the second part as a mazurka is unusual, since the original aria is unmistakably closer to a waltz; the clearest mazurka-like writing appears in the tutti section at m. 62, while the central portion of the work has a distinct polonaise character. One of the few Servais concert works without a variation set, this fantasia offers a rich blend of operatic lyricism, dance character, and virtuoso display.

This set contains the score, solo cello part, and string parts.

ASTA Level: 6