Ma Mère l'Oye (Mother Goose), is a musical work by French composer Maurice Ravel. Originally written as a piano duet for four hands for the Godebski children, Mimie and Jean, the piece was transcribed for solo piano by Ravel's friend Jacques Charlot the same year as it was published (1910). The work was dedicated to the two children just as his earlier work, Sonatine, was dedicated to their parents. Jeanne Leleu and Geneviève Durony premiered the work. The piano versions bear the subtitle "cinq pièces enfantines" (Five children's pieces). A page from a late 17th century handwritten and illustrated version of Charles Perraults Contes de ma mère lOye (Mother Goose Tales) depicting Puss in Boots. ... Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral work, Boléro, and his famous 1922 orchestral arrangement of Modest Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition. ... Duet may refer to: Duet, musical form Duet, Fox sitcom This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The term solo has different meanings in different contexts. ... 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

• I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant

Pavane of Sleeping Beauty in the wood

"Lent"

• II. Petit Poucet

Little Tom Thumb / Hop on my thumb

Très modéré

• III. Laideronnette, Impératrice des pagodes

"Little Homely," Empress of the toy mandarins

"Mouvt de Marche"

• IV. Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête

Conversation of Beauty and the Beast

"Mouvt de Valse très modéré"

• V. Le jardin féerique

The wondrous garden

"Lent et Grave"

On several of the scores, Ravel included quotes to display what he was trying to invoke. For example, from the second movement: The pavane is a processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century, whether named from an origin in Padua (padovano) or from the stately sweep of a ladys train likened to a peacocks tail. ... Sleeping Beauty (La Belle aux bois dormant) is a fairy tale classic, the first in the set published in 1697 by Charles Perrault, Contes de ma Mère lOye (Mother Goose Tales). Giambattista Basile had earlier published the tale in the Pentamerone in 1634. ... Tom Thumb is the name of a traditional hero in English folklore who was no bigger than his fathers thumb. ... Beauty and the Beast is a traditional folktale (type 425C -- search for a lost husband -- in the Aarne-Thompson classification). ...

"Il croyait trouver aisément son chemin par le moyen de son pain qu'il avait semé partout où il avait passé; mais il fut bien surpris lorsqu'il ne put retrouver une seule miette: les oiseaux étaient venus qui avaient tout mangé. (Ch. Perrault.)"

["He believed he'd easily find his way because of the bread that he'd strewn all along his path; but he was very surprised to find not one single crumb: the birds had come and eaten everything."]

Sleeping Beauty in the wood and Little Tom Thumb were derived from the tales from Charles Perrault, while Little Homely, Empress of the toy mandarins was that of Perrault's "rival" Marie-Catherine, Comtesse d'Aulnoy. In this movement, Ravel takes takes advantage of the pentatonic scale. Beauty and the Beast is based upon the version by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The origin of Wondrous Garden is not entirely known. Charles Perrault, 1665 Charles Perrault (January 12, 1628 _ May 16, 1703) was a French author. ... In music, a pentatonic scale is a scale with five notes per octave. ... Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beaumont French novelist, (Rouen, 1711-Chavanod, Savoy, 1780). ...

In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the work; then, in 1912, he expanded it as a ballet with new movements and interludes: "Prélude" and "Danse du rouet et scène". A performance of The Nutcracker ballet Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. ...

External links

• Mp3 Audio of each movement (http://www.classiccat.net/ravel_m/mmlo0.htm)