Credits:

Schumann

Description:

The ballet music “Ma mer Roi” by Ravel (1875-1937). The title is a French reading of “Mother Goose,” a folk tale for children that originated mainly in England, and was initially composed as a piano suite for the children of Ravel’s friends. Ravel later arranged this suite into a ballet version at the request of Jacques Rouch, manager of the Theatre des Arts. He changed the order of the pieces, added preludes, interludes, and other pieces, and orchestrated them with the rich colors typical of Ravel, resulting in a truly magnificent work. However, it is “Jeanne’s Fan” that is of particular interest on this album. Commissioned by Madame Jeanne Dubost, the leader of the salon at the time, ten composers active in France at the time wrote short pieces that would fit on one side of her fan, and these pieces were then joined together.The suite was premiered privately in 1928 under the direction of Roger D