Ravel originally wrote Ma mère l'oye as a piano duet
for the Godebski children, Mimi and Jean, ages 6 and 7.
Ravel dedicated this work for four hands to the
children (just as he had dedicated an earlier work,
Sonatine to their parents). Jeanne Leleu and Geneviève
Durony premiered the work. The piece was transcribed
for solo piano by Ravel's friend Jacques Charlot the
same year as it was published (1910). The first
movement of Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin was also
dedicated to Charlot's memor...(+)
Ravel originally wrote Ma mère l'oye as a piano duet
for the Godebski children, Mimi and Jean, ages 6 and 7.
Ravel dedicated this work for four hands to the
children (just as he had dedicated an earlier work,
Sonatine to their parents). Jeanne Leleu and Geneviève
Durony premiered the work. The piece was transcribed
for solo piano by Ravel's friend Jacques Charlot the
same year as it was published (1910). The first
movement of Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin was also
dedicated to Charlot's memory after his death in World
War I. Both piano versions bear the subtitle "cinq
pièces enfantines" (five children's pieces). The five
"pieces" were as follows: Pavane of Sleeping Beauty -
Little Tom Thumb / Hop o' My Thumb - Little Ugly Girl,
Empress of the Pagodas - Conversation of Beauty and the
Beast - The Fairy Garden. (Wikipedia)