Word: tombeau
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Ravel Concert including Tombeau de Couperin, Mother Goose Ballet, Pavane for a Dead Princess, and Plano Concerto in G; Hugh Wolff, Conductor, Neal Stulberg, plano Soloist; Sanders...
...argument can be made, and I make it often, that Ravel reached the height of his creative powers in Le Tombeau de Couperin. He began the work in 1914, but finished after the War, turning it into a memorial for his soldier friends who were killed in action. Ravel's piece stands out among World War I compositions for the unity of its construction, its clarity, and its style. One need only contrast it to, say, Delius's Requiem to realize how compelling an expression of revulsion against war the piece is and how superior to others of the genre...
...original piano version, in six movements, Tombeau sparkles. It is alternately light, tragic, happy, sad, and humorous, and always entrancing. On the piano, it is difficult (I was never able to master it), but, in its shorter four-movement orchestral version, it takes on a different tone. Naturally, it is slower in the orchestral version. It does not sparkle as much. But the Lowell House Tombeau is a technically flawless piece, which manages to bring out most of the emotions Ravel expressed in his original score...