Run Time: Approx.  7 minutes

Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) was originally written for solo piano in 1899. Ravel revisited the work in 1910, resetting it for orchestra as he did with many of his piano works.

In English, the translated title of “Pavane for a Dead Princess,” usually alludes to somber funeral music, however this translation is somewhat misleading. Ravel’s intended meaning might better translate to something like “bygone princess” or a princess of another era. In discussing the work, Ravel admitted that he chose the words “infante défunte” because he liked how they sounded together, and implored listeners to not “attach any importance to the title. It is not a funeral lament for a dead child, but rather an evocation of the pavane which could have been danced by such a little princess as painted by baroque artist [Diego] Velásquez.”

The pavane to which Ravel refers is a popular court dance of the 16th and 17th centuries. It was a stately couples’ dance characterized by a slow two-step pattern in which lines of female and male dancers weave in and out of one another. In fact, the modern translation of the French word pavane is “strut.” Many have postulated (though Ravel denied it) that the little princess to whom Ravel alludes may have been Margarita Teresa of the House of Hapsburg, who features heavily in Velásquez’s paintings.

Pavane pour une infante défunte has become one of Ravel’s most beloved works and is frequently performed by both pianists and orchestras. The piece highlights both Ravel’s gift for sublime melody and his incredible skill as an orchestrator, evoking at once the unmistakable sound of the French impressionists and the timbres of the baroque era—a bygone musical world. The piece opens with shimmering lines from the horns and woodwinds woven together over pizzicato (plucked) strings, instantly conjuring a regal musical portrait of a young princess from the Spanish Golden age.