Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead
Princess) is a well-known piece written for solo piano
by the French composer Maurice Ravel in 1899 when he
was studying composition at the Conservatoire de Paris
under Gabriel Fauré. Ravel also published an
orchestrated version of the Pavane in 1910.
Ravel described the piece as "an evocation of a pavane
that a little princess might, in former times, have
danced at the Spanish court". The pavane was a slow
processional dance that enj...(+)
Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead
Princess) is a well-known piece written for solo piano
by the French composer Maurice Ravel in 1899 when he
was studying composition at the Conservatoire de Paris
under Gabriel Fauré. Ravel also published an
orchestrated version of the Pavane in 1910.
Ravel described the piece as "an evocation of a pavane
that a little princess might, in former times, have
danced at the Spanish court". The pavane was a slow
processional dance that enjoyed great popularity in the
courts of Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
This antique miniature is not meant to pay tribute to
any particular princess from history, but rather
expresses a nostalgic enthusiasm for Spanish customs
and sensibilities, which Ravel shared with many of his
contemporaries (most notably Debussy and Albéniz) and
which is evident in some of his other works such as the
Rapsodie espagnole and the Boléro.
Although originally written for solo piano, I created
this arrangement for String Quintet (2 Violins, 2
Violas & Cello).
PARTITION