Mother Goose Suite
Maurice Ravel (orch. Iain Farrington)
About the Music
French composer, pianist, and conductor Maurice Ravel was born to a music-loving family in 1875 in the Basque town of Ciboure, 11 miles from the Spanish border. In the 1920s and 30s Ravel was internationally regarded as France’s greatest living composer.
Ravel originally wrote Mother Goose as a suite of “Five Children’s Pieces for Piano Four Hands” between 1908-1910. In 1911 he transcribed the piano suite for full orchestra and shortly thereafter expanded the suite to a full ballet, which premiered in January 1912 at the Théâtre des Arts in Paris. The piece is inspired by the seventeenth- and eighteenth- century collections of “Mother Goose” fairy tales. Ravel set out the movements as such:
Prelude
Scene 1 Dance of the Spinning Wheel: “An enchanted garden. An old woman is seated at her spinning wheel. Princess Florine enters, jumping rope. She stumbles, falling against the spinning wheel, and is pricked by its spindle. The old woman calls for help. The young ladies- and gentlemen-in-waiting rush in. They try in vain to revive the Princess. Then they recall the curse of the fairies. Two ladies-in-waiting prepare the Princess for her long sleep.”
Scene 2 Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty: “Florine falls asleep. The old woman now stands erect, throws off her filthy cape and appears in the sumptuous clothing and charming features of the Good Fairy. Two little servants appear. The fairy entrusts them with guarding Florine and granting her pleasant dreams.”
Scene 3 Conversations of Beauty and the Beast: “Beauty enters. Taking her mirror, she powders herself. The Beast enters. Beauty notices him and remains petrified. With horror, she rejects the declarations of the Beast, who falls at her feet, sobbing. Reassured, Beauty makes fun of him coquettishly. The Beast falls down faint with despair. Touched by his great love, Beauty raises him up again and accords him her hand. But before her is a prince more handsome than Eros, who thanks her for having ended his enchantment.
Scene 4 Tom Thumb: “A forest, at nightfall. The woodcutter’s seven children enter. Tom Thumb crumbles a piece of bread. He looks about but cannot find any houses. The children cry. Tom Thumb reassures them by showing them the bread which he has strewn along their path. They lie down and fall asleep. Birds pass and eat all of the bread. Upon awakening, the children no longer find any crumbs, and they depart sadly.”
Scene 5 Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas: “A tent draped in Chinese style. Male and female pagoda attendants enter. Dance. Laideronnette appears in the Chinese style of Boucher. A green serpent crawls amorously at her side.”
Scene 6 The Enchanted Garden: “Dawn. Birds are singing. Prince Charming enters, led by a cupid. He notices the sleeping Princess. She awakens at the same time that day is breaking. All of the performers in the ballet group themselves around the Prince and the Princess, who are united by Cupid. The Good Fairy appears and blesses the couple.”
Ravel original orchestrated the full orchestra transcription for 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons (1 doubling contrabassoon), 2 horns, timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, xylophone, glockenspiel, bell tree, celesta, harp, and strings. Tonight you will hear Iain Farrington’s arrangement for a chamber ensemble of 12 players, which Farrinton says “captures the beauty and intimacy of the original piano duet, with the color and magic of the orchestral version.”
Note by Christina Dioguardi