Word: tombeau
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...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...
...comeback was both massive and sudden, and it came as quite a surprise that the H.R.O. was able to perform as well as it did. A program consisting of Berlioz's Overture to "Benvenuto Cellini," Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin," and Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements contains an ample selection of hexes for orchestral musicians. The Berlioz was a failure, but this shaggy, distorted reading can be set aside (though not excused). Neither the orchestra nor guest conductor John Corley was ready to bandle such a wildly gyrating piece, and with...
...second half of the program was gratifying for optimists who stayed through intermission. They heard a spicy dialogue between two great composers of the twentieth century. Le Tombeau de Couperin is Ravel's impression of the traditional dance suite, and it is neatly shaped to an ideal of grace and delicacy. Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements, is perhaps a suitable answer to the Ravel, built, as it is, on the idea of the anti-dance dance. It has been made into a ballet despite the fact that its tantalizing rhythms and harmonies are meant to make the listener...