''Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn'' is a minuet for solo piano written by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

in 1909 to mark the centenary of Joseph Haydn's death.

Description

The piece is only 54 bars long and lasts for about a minute and a half. The theme is based on ''Haydn's'' own name as a five-note motif. The letter H represents ''B natural'', A and D representing their respective pitches, Y as ''D natural'' and N as ''G natural''. In the score, the use of this motif is marked using their letters including several inverted and retrograde versions.

History

This work came about as a result of a commission by the ''Revue musicale mensuelle de la Société Internationale de Musique.'' In total, six composers were commissioned:

, ('''Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn')'',

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

''('Hommage à Haydn'''),

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Par ...

, Paul Dukas ''('Prélude Élégiaque')'',

Reynaldo Hahn Reynaldo Hahn (; 9 August 1874 – 28 January 1947) was a Venezuelan-born French composer, conductor, music critic, and singer. He is best known for his songs – ''mélodies'' – of which he wrote more than 100. Hahn was born in Caracas b ...

''('Theme Varié sur le nom de Haydn')'', and Charles-Marie Widor ''('Fugue sur le nom d'Haydn').'' Each composer was given the same task: to write a piece based on the musical equivalent of Haydn's name.

References

External links

* * Compositions by Maurice Ravel 1909 compositions Compositions for solo piano Funerary and memorial compositions Music with dedications {{classical-music-stub