upRavel in 1907 ''Miroirs'' (French for "Mirrors") is a five-movement suite for solo

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

written by French composer Maurice Ravel between 1904 and 1905."Miroirs". Maurice Ravel Frontispice. First performed by

Ricardo Viñes Ricardo Viñes y Roda (, ca, Ricard Viñes i Roda, ; 5 February 1875 – 29 April 1943) was a Spanish pianist. He gave the premieres of works by Ravel, Debussy, Satie, Falla and Albéniz. He was the piano teacher of the composer Francis Pou ...

in 1906, ''Miroirs'' contains five movements, each dedicated to a fellow member of the French

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

artist group Les Apaches."Miroirs". Piano Society. http://www.pianosociety.com/cms/index.php?section=171

History

Around 1900, Maurice Ravel joined a group of innovative young artists, poets, critics, and musicians referred to as Les Apaches or "hooligans", a term coined by

to refer to his band of "artistic outcasts". To pay tribute to his fellow artists, Ravel began composing ''Miroirs'' in 1904 and finished it the following year. It was first published by

Eugène Demets Eugène Louis Demets (6 April 1858 – 25 April 1923) was one of the most prestigious music publishers in early 20th-century Paris. Life Demets was born in Passy, west of Paris. Originally an orchestral musician, Demets set up his music publishing ...

in 1906. The third and fourth movements were subsequently orchestrated by Ravel, while the fifth was orchestrated by

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

, among others.

Structure

''Miroirs'' has five movements, each dedicated to a member of ''Les Apaches'':

Orchestrated versions

"''Une barque sur l'océan''" and "''Alborada del gracioso''" were orchestrated by Ravel himself. "''La vallée des cloches''" has been orchestrated by

Ernesto Halffter Ernesto Halffter Escriche (16 January 19055 July 1989) was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter and part of the ''Grupo de los Ocho'' ( en, Group of Eight), which formed a sub-set of the ''Generation of '27'' ...

for triple

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and re ...

, four

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

, percussion, two

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

s, celesta and strings; and by

for a typical Grainger ensemble with multiple pianos and percussion, plus strings. "''Oiseaux tristes''" has been scored by for double woodwind plus

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

, two horns, two

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s, percussion, harp, celesta and strings; though aimed at intermediate rather than advanced players, transposed down a

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

and with some of Ravel's rhythms simplified. The earliest known orchestration of "''Noctuelles''" is by the British pianist Michael Round, an orchestration commissioned by

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...

and recorded by him with the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Exxon, 1993) – the recording also includes Round's scorings of the Fugue and Toccata from ''

Le Tombeau de Couperin ''Le Tombeau de Couperin'' (''The Couperin's Grave'') is a suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. The piece is in six movements, based on those of a traditional Baroque suite. Each movement is dedicated to the mem ...

''. In orchestrated form "''Noctuelles''" is scored for triple woodwind (including E clarinet) minus one

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

; four horns, three trumpets, three

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

s and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

, timpani, percussion, two harps, celesta and strings. There is a more recent orchestration (2001) of "''Noctuelles''" by American composer Steven Stucky. It is published by Theodore Presser Company and is scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (3rd doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 2 percussionists, celesta, two harps, and strings. In 2001 American conductor Leif Bjaland orchestrated "''Oiseaux tristes''" scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, harp, and strings. In 2003 the British composer Simon Clarke made an orchestration of the three movements that Ravel did not orchestrate.

References

External links

* *Recording of ''Miroirs'', performed by

Thérèse Dussaut Thérèse Dussaut (born 20 September 1939) is a French pianist and music educator. Life Born in Versailles, the daughter of composers Robert Dussaut and Hélène Corvatti, Thérèse Dussaut studied piano in France with Marguerite Long and Pierr ...

, in

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format:
"''Noctuelles''"

"''Oiseaux tristes''"

"''Une barque sur l'océan''"

"''Alborada del gracioso''"

"''La vallée des cloches''"
*Recording of ''Miroirs'', performed by Felipe Sarro
Archive.org
{{Authority control Suites by Maurice Ravel 1905 compositions Compositions for solo piano Music with dedications

History

Structure

Orchestrated versions

See also

References

External links