FIVE EASY PIECES

Although Ravel's music was described as 'Impressionist' during his lifetime, he rejected the term and doubted that it could be applied to music at all. His compositions maintain the traditions of classical form within which he used elements of the Baroque, Neo Classicism, Modernism and eventually Jazz to compose music whose harmonies are built on whole tone scales and modes instead of the conventional tonality of major and minor keys. A limited dynamic range, flowing rhythms and a clear melodic line are fundamental to Ravel's atmospheric and attractive music. Of his catalogue of eighty-five works, only about sixty are performable and that includes a number of pieces written originally for the piano and later painstakingly transcribed for orchestra by the composer.

One of these is 'Mother Goose' (Ma Mere L'Oye) which is a suite of five movements for piano duet written in 1908 for the young children of friends of the composer's. Four years later he orchestrated those five and added two more movements and four 'interludes' to make the score for a ballet which was premiered at the Paris Opera on 11 March 1915. Two of the five pieces in this collection are Robin De Smet's arrangements of movements from'Mother Goose'.

The remaining three pieces are 'L' Enigme Eternelle from Two Hebrew Melodies'. This is the second of the two, which are taken from Jewish Liturgy, and means 'The Eternal Question'; the first melody is 'Kaddisch'. Ravel set them as songs with piano accompaniment in 1914.
'Nicolette' is one of 'Trois Chansons' for four part unaccompanied choir which Ravel wrote in in 1914/15 and had published in 1916. His music echoes Renaissance chansons and madrigals to match the atmosphere of the texts.
'Prelude' is a piano piece dated 1913 and is said to have been set as a sight-reading challenge.
Al five pieces have arranged by the experienced woodwind performer, teacher and composer Robin De Smet.

• Nicolette
• Prelude
• Sleeping Beauty's Pavane from 'Mother Goose'
• Waltz from 'Mother Goose'

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