Miroirs
Encyclopedia
Miroirs, or "Reflections" is a suite
for solo piano written by French
impressionist composer Maurice Ravel
between 1904 and 1905. First performed by Ricardo Viñes
in 1906, Miroirs contains five movements, each dedicated to a fellow member of the French impressionist group, Les Apaches
.
, among others.
(instrumentation: triple woodwind, four horns, timpani, percussion, 2 harps, celesta and strings; publisher: Eschig) and Percy Grainger
(a typical Grainger ensemble with multiple pianos and percussion, plus strings). "Oiseaux tristes" has been scored by Felix Günther (instrumentation: double woodwind plus piccolo, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, percussion, harp, celesta and strings; publisher: Edward B Marks Music Corp, 1941) though aimed at intermediate rather than advanced players, transposed down a semitone and with some of Ravel's rhythms simplified. The only known orchestration of No 1, "Noctuelles", is by the British pianist Michael Round, an orchestration commissioned by Vladimir Ashkenazy
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
. In orchestrated form "Noctuelles" is scored for triple woodwind (including E-flat clarinet) less a contrabassoon; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani, percussion, two harps, celesta and strings. Performance material (for hire only) is held by publishers BMG
.
Suite
In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
for solo piano written by French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
impressionist composer Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
between 1904 and 1905. First performed by Ricardo Viñes
Ricardo Viñes
Ricardo Viñes was a Spanish pianist. He first publicly performed many important works by Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Manuel de Falla, Déodat de Séverac and Isaac Albéniz. He was also the piano teacher of composer Francis Poulenc and pianist Léo-Pol Morin.He was born in Lleida,...
in 1906, Miroirs contains five movements, each dedicated to a fellow member of the French impressionist group, Les Apaches
Les Apaches
Les Apaches or was a group of French musicians, writers and artists which formed around 1900. Members of the group included:* Edouard Benedictus, painter and composer* M.D...
.
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 Ricardo Viñes 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. Movements 3 and 4 were subsequently orchestrated by Ravel, while Movement 5 was orchestrated by Percy GraingerPercy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
, among others.
Structure
Miroirs has five movements, each dedicated to a member of Les Apaches:- Noctuelles ("Night Moths") - Dedicated to Léon-Paul FargueLéon-Paul FargueLéon-Paul Fargue was a French poet and essayist.He was born in Paris, France on rue Coquilliére. As a poet he was noted for his poetry of atmosphere and detail. His work spanned numerous literary movements...
, Noctuelles is a highly chromaticChromaticismChromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
work, maintaining a dark, nocturnal mood throughout. The middle section is calm with rich, chordal melodies, and the recapitulation takes place a fifth below the first entry. - Oiseaux tristes ("Sad Birds") - Dedicated to Ricardo Viñes, this movement represents a lone bird whistling a sad tune, after which others join in. The rambunctious middle section is offset by a solemn cadenza which brings back the melancholy mood of the beginning.
- Une barque sur l'océan ("A boat on the Ocean") - Dedicated to Paul SordesPaul SordesPaul Sordes was a painter and a member of Les Apaches, a group of artists in early 20th-century Paris whose most famous member was Maurice Ravel; it was at his home that the group regularly met on Saturdays....
, the piece recounts a small boat as it sails upon the waves of the ocean. Arpeggiated sections as well as sweeping melodies imitate the flow of ocean currents. - Alborada del gracioso ("The GraciosoGraciosoGracioso is a clown or jester in Spanish comedy of the 16th century.Northrop Frye identified him as a type of tricky slave.-References:* * in the Dictionnaire International des Termes Littéraires.* on Maurice Ravel's Alborada Del Gracioso....
's AubadeAubadeAn aubade is a morning love song , or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as "a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak"....
") - Dedicated to M. D. Calvocoressi, Alborada is a technically challenging piece that incorporates Spanish musical themes into its complicated melodies. - La vallée des cloches ("The Valley of Bells") - Dedicated to Maurice DelageMaurice DelageMaurice Delage was a French composer and pianist.Delage was born and died in Paris. A student of Ravel and member of Les Apaches, he was influenced by travels to India and the East. Ravel's "La vallée des cloches" from Miroirs was dedicated to Delage.Delage's best known piece is Quatre poèmes...
, the piece evokes the sounds of various bells through its use of sonorous harmonies.
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 HalffterErnesto Halffter
Ernesto Halffter Escriche was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter....
(instrumentation: triple woodwind, four horns, timpani, percussion, 2 harps, celesta and strings; publisher: Eschig) and Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
(a typical Grainger ensemble with multiple pianos and percussion, plus strings). "Oiseaux tristes" has been scored by Felix Günther (instrumentation: double woodwind plus piccolo, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, percussion, harp, celesta and strings; publisher: Edward B Marks Music Corp, 1941) though aimed at intermediate rather than advanced players, transposed down a semitone and with some of Ravel's rhythms simplified. The only known orchestration of No 1, "Noctuelles", is by the British pianist Michael Round, an orchestration commissioned by Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland...
and recorded by him with the NHK Symphony Orchestra
NHK Symphony Orchestra
The in Tokyo, Japan began as the New Symphony Orchestra on October 5, 1926 and was the country's first professional symphony orchestra. Later, it changed its name to Japan Symphony Orchestra and in 1951, after receiving financial support from NHK, it took its current name...
(Exxon, 1993) – the recording also includes Round's scorings of the Fugue and Toccata from Le Tombeau de Couperin
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Le tombeau de Couperin is a suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917, in six movements. Each movement is dedicated to the memory of friends of the composer who had died fighting in World War I...
. In orchestrated form "Noctuelles" is scored for triple woodwind (including E-flat clarinet) less a contrabassoon; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani, percussion, two harps, celesta and strings. Performance material (for hire only) is held by publishers BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
.
External links
- Recording of Miroirs, performed by Therese Dussaut, in MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format: