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Ma mère I’Oye (Mother Goose), Suite
MAURICE RAVEL

MAURICE RAVEL

Born March 7, 1875, Ciboure, Basses Pyrénées, France
Died December 28, 1937, Paris, France

Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite) [about 16 minutes]

  1. Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty
  2. Tom Thumb
  3. Little Ugly One, Empress of the Pagodas
  4. The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast
  5. The Enchanted Garden

Last performed by the Wichita Symphony on March 3 and 4, 2001, Andrew Sewell conducting.

Maurice Ravel once stated that his ambition was “to say with notes what a poet expresses with words.” In 1908, after completing his piano suite, Gaspard de la Nuit, one of the most challenging piano works in the repertoire and inspired by the macabre poetry of Aloysius Bertrand (1807 – 1841), the French equivalent of Edgar Allan Poe, Ravel reversed course. He simplified his musical style to evoke “the poetry of childhood.” Again, he turned to literature for inspiration, this time drawing upon French fairy tales by Charles Perrault (1628 – 1703) and others. The result was a Suite for 4-hands at a single piano called Ma Mère l’Oye, or the Mother Goose Suite. The title came from Perrault’s collection, Mother Goose Tales (1697).

Ravel, an avid collector of toys and childhood memories, sought to write music that children could enjoy and even play. He dedicated his Suite to Mimie and Jean Godebskis, the children of close friends. While the Godebskis children were talented piano students, they were not quite up to the music’s challenges. Two other children, ages six and ten, premiered the Suite at the Salle Gaveau in Paris on April 20, 1910.

As was sometimes his custom with his piano works, Ravel orchestrated the Suite the following year and subsequently fleshed out the Suite into a thirty-minute ballet in 1912. This weekend, we hear the original five-movement Suite in its orchestrated version.

Ravel was a masterful orchestrator, keenly aware of timbre possibilities from each instrument. He thoroughly studied the treatises of Berlioz and Rimsky-Korsakov, questioned instrumentalists at rehearsals, and honed his skills through experimentation. Ravel’s music is lush and gorgeous, and you can enjoy it at its most elemental level by letting the music wash over you. At a deeper level, listen for how the music evokes the story, and specifically how the choice of instruments in Ravel’s orchestration contributes to the imagery. Here’s a synopsis of the five movements.

Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty (Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant). The opening movement references the familiar story and depicts a stately dance by attendants around the sleeping princess. A pavane was a slow, processional dance popular in the 16th century. A flute introduces the theme, and a hushed counter-melody responds in the muted horn and violas. The movement is brief – only twenty measures – and takes on a “once upon a time” function.

Tom Thumb (Petit Poucet). Ravel introduces the scene in his score with a quotation from Charles Perrault. “Tom believed he would easily find his way back by means of his bread crumbs, which he scattered along the way, but to his surprise, he could not find a single crumb for the birds had come and eaten them up.” A plaintive tune by the oboe and then the English horn represents Tom Thumb as subdued meandering strings suggest how his path winds through the forest. We briefly hear the woodwinds that depict birds chirping as they flit about and descend for the bread crumbs.

Little Ugly One, Empress of the Pagodas (Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes). This story comes from Marie Catherine d’Aulnoy (1652 – 1705). Princess Laideronnete has been rendered ugly by a wicked spell. She lives in an isolated castle surrounded by her subjects, miniature pagodas made of porcelain and priceless jewels. She befriends a green serpent, a former prince who is also under a spell. Ravel’s music portrays an exotic land with a pentatonic scale and Javanese gamelan effects.

The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast (Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête). In this familiar story, a solo clarinet representing Beauty sweetly addresses the Beast, played by the deep-sounding contrabassoon. A slow waltz tempo creates intimacy. Beauty’s voice shifts to solo flute, oboe, and then clarinet as the music gains urgency. A cymbal crash and harp glissando dispel the magic spell at its climax. The movement ends quietly with Beauty and the Beast transformed into solo violin and cello.

The Enchanted Garden (Le jardin féerique). The Suite comes full circle as we return to Sleeping Beauty and her awakening by the Prince. The sumptuous orchestration rises in a crescendo reaching a luminous climax that summons all things good and wonderful, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Ravel scores The Mother Goose Suite for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, two horns, timpani, percussion, celesta, harp, and strings.

Notes by Don Reinhold ©2021

WSU SOM 2
Ma mère I’Oye (Mother Goose), Suite
MAURICE RAVEL

MAURICE RAVEL

Born March 7, 1875, Ciboure, Basses Pyrénées, France
Died December 28, 1937, Paris, France

Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite) [about 16 minutes]

  1. Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty
  2. Tom Thumb
  3. Little Ugly One, Empress of the Pagodas
  4. The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast
  5. The Enchanted Garden

Last performed by the Wichita Symphony on March 3 and 4, 2001, Andrew Sewell conducting.

Maurice Ravel once stated that his ambition was “to say with notes what a poet expresses with words.” In 1908, after completing his piano suite, Gaspard de la Nuit, one of the most challenging piano works in the repertoire and inspired by the macabre poetry of Aloysius Bertrand (1807 – 1841), the French equivalent of Edgar Allan Poe, Ravel reversed course. He simplified his musical style to evoke “the poetry of childhood.” Again, he turned to literature for inspiration, this time drawing upon French fairy tales by Charles Perrault (1628 – 1703) and others. The result was a Suite for 4-hands at a single piano called Ma Mère l’Oye, or the Mother Goose Suite. The title came from Perrault’s collection, Mother Goose Tales (1697).

Ravel, an avid collector of toys and childhood memories, sought to write music that children could enjoy and even play. He dedicated his Suite to Mimie and Jean Godebskis, the children of close friends. While the Godebskis children were talented piano students, they were not quite up to the music’s challenges. Two other children, ages six and ten, premiered the Suite at the Salle Gaveau in Paris on April 20, 1910.

As was sometimes his custom with his piano works, Ravel orchestrated the Suite the following year and subsequently fleshed out the Suite into a thirty-minute ballet in 1912. This weekend, we hear the original five-movement Suite in its orchestrated version.

Ravel was a masterful orchestrator, keenly aware of timbre possibilities from each instrument. He thoroughly studied the treatises of Berlioz and Rimsky-Korsakov, questioned instrumentalists at rehearsals, and honed his skills through experimentation. Ravel’s music is lush and gorgeous, and you can enjoy it at its most elemental level by letting the music wash over you. At a deeper level, listen for how the music evokes the story, and specifically how the choice of instruments in Ravel’s orchestration contributes to the imagery. Here’s a synopsis of the five movements.

Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty (Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant). The opening movement references the familiar story and depicts a stately dance by attendants around the sleeping princess. A pavane was a slow, processional dance popular in the 16th century. A flute introduces the theme, and a hushed counter-melody responds in the muted horn and violas. The movement is brief – only twenty measures – and takes on a “once upon a time” function.

Tom Thumb (Petit Poucet). Ravel introduces the scene in his score with a quotation from Charles Perrault. “Tom believed he would easily find his way back by means of his bread crumbs, which he scattered along the way, but to his surprise, he could not find a single crumb for the birds had come and eaten them up.” A plaintive tune by the oboe and then the English horn represents Tom Thumb as subdued meandering strings suggest how his path winds through the forest. We briefly hear the woodwinds that depict birds chirping as they flit about and descend for the bread crumbs.

Little Ugly One, Empress of the Pagodas (Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes). This story comes from Marie Catherine d’Aulnoy (1652 – 1705). Princess Laideronnete has been rendered ugly by a wicked spell. She lives in an isolated castle surrounded by her subjects, miniature pagodas made of porcelain and priceless jewels. She befriends a green serpent, a former prince who is also under a spell. Ravel’s music portrays an exotic land with a pentatonic scale and Javanese gamelan effects.

The Conversation of Beauty and the Beast (Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête). In this familiar story, a solo clarinet representing Beauty sweetly addresses the Beast, played by the deep-sounding contrabassoon. A slow waltz tempo creates intimacy. Beauty’s voice shifts to solo flute, oboe, and then clarinet as the music gains urgency. A cymbal crash and harp glissando dispel the magic spell at its climax. The movement ends quietly with Beauty and the Beast transformed into solo violin and cello.

The Enchanted Garden (Le jardin féerique). The Suite comes full circle as we return to Sleeping Beauty and her awakening by the Prince. The sumptuous orchestration rises in a crescendo reaching a luminous climax that summons all things good and wonderful, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Ravel scores The Mother Goose Suite for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, two horns, timpani, percussion, celesta, harp, and strings.

Notes by Don Reinhold ©2021

WSU SOM 2