Last week we heard Maurice Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition Ravel was of course also a great composer in his own right. These days his most famous piece is the slow, hypnotic, Spanish-influenced Bolero, made famous by the film 10. Today’s selection is also slow and Spanish-sounding, but also dramatic and melancholy, his Pavane for a Dead Princess. Once again, we have two versions, the original one for piano:
And Ravel’s own later orchestration. Note the emotional power Ravel evokes from the strings, and even more so the french horns.
All the music from the this series can be found and enjoyed here.
He looks like Dr Michio Kaku.Report
I’ve always liked Daphne et Chloe and the solo paino pieces.Report
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Holst’s Planets are cited as the beginning of the Modern Era. I’ve always felt like Ravel’s La Valse was the end of the Romantic. It’s beautiful, but it takes the elegance of the waltz and spins it out of control – not by speeding it up, but by attacking its internal musical logic. Stravinsky and Holst may have departed from the Romantic Era, but Ravel salted the earth.Report