Although best known for his operas, Jules Massenet also composed many symphonic works including ballets, concerti and a series of programmatic suites for orchestra. The third of the suites, composed during the summer of 1874, was directly inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. The composer originally named the three movements to clearly identify the Shakespearean source. The first movement was entitled La Tempête (Ariel et les esprits) (The Tempest: Ariel and the spirits); the second, Le Sommeil de Desdémone (The Sleep of Desdemona); and the third, Macbeth (Les sorciers; Le festin; L'apparition; Couronnement du Roi Malcolm; Fanfares) (Macbeth: the witches; the banquet, the ghost; the coronation of King Malcolm, fanfares). The composer later dropped the literary references and replaced them with less specific musical titles: 1. Prélude et divertissement, 2. Mélodrame and 3. Scène finale. The movements represent specific events from the plays including the famous storm from The Tempest, for example, and the gathering of witches from Macbeth. Like his more familiar operatic compositions, this work reveals Massenet's first-rate dramatic instincts as well as his brilliant use of orchestral color.

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