a dose of music: a classical injection - part 4

For today's "dose" I chose Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin" (A Memorial for Couperin) arrangement for orchestra. He originally wrote the piece for piano in six movements, but orchestrated an arrangement in 1919 which was shortened to four movements. Each movement is dedicated to one (or more) of his friends who died in World War I. Ravel himself was in the war acting as an ambulance driver and was also wounded. The piece is presumably named after Francois Couperin, a well-known French Baroque composer, after which Ravel wished, not necessarily to write in his style, but to pay respect to the French baroque keyboard style which Couperin was well known for.

This is a slight change in pace to what I have been suggesting, as it’s a lot lighter in orchestration, meaning there are fewer players than in a Mahler Symphony, and the dynamics and density of sound is much softer, lighter, and thinner. This is a nice short piece that has some great harmonies. Its evokes a much different feeling than the brassy, loud pieces I’ve suggested in the past. I hope you like it.