III. Allegro scherzando, C minor, 4-4. There are introductory measures, and the first motive is for the pianoforte. This motive is developed. The second motive is for oboe and violoncellos, and is taken up later by the pianoforte and leads to figuration in triplets, meno mosso, for the same instrument. Then comes a section allegro scherzando, moto primo, in which the chief theme is further developed. There is a fugato: the first violins are answered by pianoforte and lower strings. In the recapitulation section there is a suggestion of the chief theme, but the second motive is in the orchestra, this time for violins and flute, and it is taken up later, as it was before, by the solo instrument. The triplet figuration returns. Allegro scherzando: the chief theme is treated in imitation by the orchestra. There is an increase in speed with a crescendo, and, when the climax is reached, there is a cadenza for the pianoforte. The second theme is announced by the full orchestra maestoso, with chords for the solo instrument. There is a brilliant coda.
JOSEPH MAURICE
RAVEL
(Born at Ciboure, Basses Pyrénées, March 7, 1875)
“MA MÈRE L’OYE” (MOTHER GOOSE), FIVE CHILDREN’S PIECES
I. Pavane de la Belle au Bois Dormant (Pavane of Sleeping Beauty) II. Petit Poucet (Hop o’ my Thumb) III. Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes (Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas) IV. Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête (Conversations of Beauty and the Beast) V. Le Jardin Féerique (The Fairy Garden)
Ravel’s music is of the most delicate texture, lacework with exquisite thoughts orchestrated as for the little orchestra of ivory instruments imagined by Jules Laforgue. Although to the eye the structure of the score is simple, the performance demands the utmost skill on the part of the players and the finest taste of an imaginative conductor. It would be hard to say which of the five movements is the most beautiful in fancy. The “Pavane” has a subtle, melancholy charm. “Hop o’ my Thumb” is curiously rhythmed and strangely effective by means of orchestration. “Laideronnette” in the movement of a march is delightful, and with the movement that follows, in the time of a slow waltz and with a solo for the double bassoon representing the Beast, wins immediate popularity. In the ballet the Apotheosis was the “Fairy Garden,” and this movement, too, is most poetic.
These pieces were originally composed in 1908 for pianoforte (four hands), and for the pleasure of the children, Mimie and Jean Godebski, to whom they were dedicated when the pieces were published in 1910. They were first performed at a concert of the Société Musicale Indépendante, Salle Gaveau, Paris, on April 20, 1910. The pianists were Christine Verger, six years old, and Germaine Duramy, ten years old.
I. “Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty.” Lent, A minor, 4-4. This movement is only twenty measures long. It is based on the opening phrase for flute, horns, and violas.
II. “Hop o’ my Thumb.” Ravel has quoted in the score this passage from Perrault’s tale: “He believed that he would easily find his path by means of his bread crumbs which he had scattered wherever he had passed; but he was very much surprised when he could not find a single crumb: the birds had come and eaten everything up.”