Introduction
Ma mère l’Oye was originally written as a five-movement piano duet, between 1908 and 1910, for 2 children: Mimie and Jean Godebski. As it happened with many of his works, Ravel turned the piano version into an orchestral one.
The piece was transformed into a ballet with the addition of a Prelude and the famous “danse du rouet“, and different interludes.
“”I have never felt the need to formulate the principles of my aesthetics, either for the use of others or for myself.
If asked to do so, I would reply that I am inclined to identify with the simple statements made by Mozart, who merely said that there is nothing that music cannot do or attempt or describe, as long as it continues to fascinate and be always music.
I have sometimes been attributed with views that seemingly paradoxically refer to the falsity of art and the dangers of sincerity.
The fact is that I simply absolutely refuse to confuse the conscience of an artist, which is one thing, with his sincerity, which is quite another thing. Sincerity is of no use if conscience does not help to manifest it. This conscience forces us to turn to good craftsmanship.
My goal is therefore technical perfection. I can fight ceaselessly for this purpose, but I am sure that I will never be able to achieve it. The important thing is to get closer each time. There is no doubt that art also has other effects but the artist, in my opinion, must have no other purpose.”
Ravel in 1925
Oops...
This content is available for free with all memberships.
Already a member? Login here.
Not a member yet? Subscribe today and get access to more than 80 videos, scores analysis, technical episodes, and exercises.
Petit Poucet: Très modéré (Little Tom Thumb)
The fairy soon gives way to Petit Poucet, where a long chant in thirds goes around and around, like Tom Thumb looking for bread crumbs. It’s easy to hear instrumental allusions to the birds of the woods.
The first and second violins begin by wandering around in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4. In pianissimo, with mute. Nobody else is playing till we hear a solitary oboe
Replaced at the end of the phrase by an English horn, while the violins leave room to the violas and cellos. This change alone darkens the sound. The texture is enriched by a clarinet in sync with a pizzicato of the double basses
The same material is retaken by the strings with an added chromatic scale
and with an upwards progression we arrive at a forte molto espressivo. Notice that the strings still have the mutes on. It’s nothing violent or desperate. More like the sigh of Tom Thumb, surprised of not finding any of the crumbs he left
The music folds back on itself and the same material underlines that magic orchestration that gives life to the birds. Look at how it’s built: harmonics of a solo violin, answered by a piccolo, a flute, other 2 solo violins in trills, and a glissando of the rest of the first violins
The theme comes back in the strings and in a fascinating combination of piccolo and solo cello and we get to the final episode, which retakes the chromaticism we saw at the end of the previous movement
The movement ends as it began: the violins wandering around on different meters, while the entrance of the oboe remains suspended, unanswered.
Technical tip
The sighing of Tom Thumb is depicted at the end of the third bar of number 3. Before the last eight note, you need a bigger lift, which will create a spontaneous breath and the consequent effect.
For a full technical analysis, look up the video in the repertoire section
Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes: Mouvt de marche (Little Ugly Girl, Empress of the Pagodas)
Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes is the longest and most complex piece, in which a mysterious central section is framed by two twin sections. The evocation of the East is obvious in the use of the pentatonic scale, and in the various instrumental combinations, with the piccolo, the xylophone, the harp, and the celesta. This evokes the oriental gamelan, already mentioned in Debussy’s Prelude a l’après-midi d’un faune.
From the score:
She undressed and got into the bath. Immediately, the toy mandarins began to sing and to play instruments. Some had theorbos made from walnut shells, some had viols made from almond shells; for the instruments had to be of a size appropriate to their own
The orchestra begins in pianissimo, the strings are divisi, and Ravel calls for the double basses to lower their E string of a semitone in order to play, later in the movement, a low D#.
The rhythms chasing each other create a festive atmosphere. The piccolo joyfully enters with its melody in a pentatonic scale
Strums of the theorbos are mimicked in a bridging section that sees the pizzicato of the strings along with descending quick figures of the woodwinds. The harp doubles the strings, while the glockenspiel doubles the flutes and clarinets. A single cymbal stroke adds yet another layer to this colorful moment
The second part of this A section is based on the same material, picked up by the oboe
The quadruplets of 16th begin a game that at number 6 shows the same chromaticism we’ve already encountered at the end of the previous 2 movements. 2 bars on 2 bars, the material bounces between flute and English horn.
A glissando of the celesta takes us back to the original material, in a big crescendo which gradually involves the entire orchestra
And we land on the B section: a great combination of woodwinds, horns, celesta, harp and violas, and cellos in pizzicato. The end of the musical idea is left to the tam-tam
At each repetition, the orchestration thins out. After a phrase built on 4+4+4+2 bars, the same material is used, with different orchestration, in a 3+4+3 bar phrase.
Clarinet and celesta play in canon on the same motive. Notice how they both are in the lower register creating a very peculiar sound
The music is transfigured by the entrance of the flute, playing a dreamy melody
At end of which, the ominous motive returns in the clarinet coupled with the violas.
But wait, the sinister atmosphere is changed by the entrance of the celesta, overlapping with the piccolo theme of the beginning
We almost have not realized it but we’ve returned to the A section, in a shorter version. The bridge we saw earlier wakes us up completely from that weird dream we’d fallen into
and the oboe is back: the piece continues to the end as it was in the A section, closing with 4 final chords
Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête: Mouvt de valse très modéré (Conversation of Beauty and the Beast)
Gracefully nostalgic, the waltz that accompanies Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bète is a tribute to Erik Satie and his Gymnopédies. It’s a conversation at a distance between the melody of Beauty and the chromatic gurgling of the Beast. In the end, the magical moment transforming the beast into a prince.
The delicate waltz movement is provided by the harp and the flutes, replaced after 4 bars by the strings, while the clarinet sings on top
Beauty continues her melody with apparently uneven phrase structures of 2 bars and 4 bars, then 2 and 3. There’s very little change in the orchestration till the end of this first musical paragraph.
At number 2 we hear the Beast in an ominous contrabassoon, sustained by the pizzicatos of the cellos and double basses.
The phrase has a structure of 4+4+3 bars the first time and 4+4+2 the second time, where also the violas are added to the mix. After the first 4 bars of the contrabassoon, the answer is provided by the clarinets, 1 bassoon, a horn with mute, and harp. To darken the atmosphere a single hit of the cymbal and a trill on the bass drum
The motives start to mix: the beauty enquires with her theme and the Beast answers with his after 3 bars, in a phrase structure of 3+2+3
An animato poco a poco generates a certain excitement but everything folds back almost immediately, with the 2 themes now completely overlapping each other
Another crescendo brings this waltz to a stop
And the conclusion of the movement is the beautiful moment of transformation: the Beast’s theme from the low register and dark sound of the contrabassoon moves to the airy harmonics of a violin solo.
Flute and harp play the Beauty’s motive while the cello underneath takes over the Beast’s theme, and the movement ends in a serene F major
Technical tip
This movement is clearly in one. One of the best things you can do here is to combine bars following the phrase structure. In the beginning, for instance, we have a 4+4+2+2+4 bar.
This is one of the cases in which a pattern actually acquires a meaning
For a full technical analysis, look up the video in the repertoire section
Le jardin féerique: Lent et grave (The Fairy Garden)
In the final movement, Le jardin féerique, the initial melody is progressively taken towards an apotheosis. It begins so simply, in C major, just with the strings, minus the double basses
Starting at number 1 we see a first progression, gradually increasing in intensity. It’s a hint of that great and unique way that Ravel had to construct an enormous build-up with a few elements. In this case, the same 2 bars, retreating on very sad E minor chords
The sadness is short, swept away by a gorgeous first violin solo
2 bars of that musical material move from one section to another bridging into the final part of the movement. The line moves up, in diminuendo, landing, again, on a C major, opening the phrase in a breathless way
4 bars later, the final crescendo begins reaching the climax and ending the piece with a feast of glissandos in the harp, and the celesta, while the glockenspiel plays on top
0 Comments