Ravel - Le Tombeau de Couperin, orchestration complète 

The prelude makes me feel like a butterfly

Ravel should be taught in every public school. Seriously.

The Prelude is probably one of the most magical pieces in music history.

To write such joy on the face of loss and destruction is only a sign of an absolute genius.

In August 1984 I was living and working at Grand Canyon National Park. During the Perseid meteor shower I worked until midnight and walked home to my little apartment. It was a warm evening and a cloudless night. The sky was clear and the moon was nothing more than a thin crescent. There were so many meteors that when I got home I pulled my living room sofa into the yard, put my Sennheiser headphones on, and watched as hundreds of meteors each hour streaked through the sky. And all while playing Ravel and Debussy. A magical night I will remember with joy until I draw my last breath.

When asked why his piece wasn't as somber as much of the memorial music produced in the aftermath of the Great War, Ravel is reported to have said: "The dead have sorrow enough". Ravel was mourning the deaths of his friends, but also grateful that they had lived at all. Which may be why this music is so sprightly and optimistic.

on en pleure de joie et de fierté qu'un être humain ai pu atteindre ce degré de perfection.

écouter la musique de Ravel c'est comme entrer dans un monde féerique rempli de magie. On ne s'en lasse pas.

It's such a beautiful composition from a brilliant composer. Forlane will always be my favourite movement, the woodwinds are simply hauntingly pretty.

I recorded part of this to a cassette tape as it was playing on the radio back in the early 1990's and couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was called, who it was by.. then by chance i recently discovered my old cassette tapes! and the only word I could make out from the half taped over description was *"tombeau!"* .. 2 hours later.. found it! ..and love it as I did all those years ago, a beautiful piece of music.

Elegant, witty, beautiful....yet somehow elusive --- music that never quite gives up all its secrets.

This piece works so well with the orchestral texture, that I find it hard to believe that it was ever written for just the piano.

Some years ago I was walking in the hall of a Railway station and a pianist was playing. I recognized 'Le Tombeau' immediately. The orchestration is beautiful and exquisite.

When George Gershwin was in Europe he took lessons from Ravel. Ravel asked Gershwin how much money he made. After Gershwin told him Ravel said, "Perhaps I should be taking lessons from you."

La meilleure orchestration écoutée à ce jour...une pure merveille

Ravel is the peak of music.

Maurice Ravel nous a donné dans " Le Tombeau de Couperin" une oeuvre d'art d'une véritable élévation qui n'échappe pas à une dimension spirituelle . Il y a une douce et joyeuse présence qui habite ces danses de l'âme qui nous transportent délicatement avec infiniment de respect . Mélancolie non systématique qui n'est pas affectée mais elle témoigne d'une douleur présente qui a absorbé le deuil , en porte les traces , mais il y a en profondeur comme une résolution virile et vivifiante d'un accord avec les veines de ce qui palpite en positif dans la Vie . Ravel , le musicien des profondeurs nous réenchante, non de spectres illusoires mais nous prend doucement par la main , nous suggère , comme si l'on nous racontait de belles histoires qui éveillent de nobles sentiments et ces musiques propres à confronter avec l' univers de la nature ,sont comme une prescription de bonheur pour un coeur que l'on invite à s'emplir de simple beauté non tonitruante mais en teintes aquarellées qui soulagent l'âme et le regard parfois superficiel que l'on porte sur les choses de l'existence .

Le orchestration est plus que beau et comme si chaque mouvement ! Chapeau a Ravel que est un grande maestro ! Mon favori pour Ravel.

Some of the most refined and beautiful music ever written.

Merveille d'entendre orchestrées la fugue et la toccata en plus des autres pièces ! Ravel est si magique, si parfait et a relativement peu écrit, exigeant comme il était.

Wow! Kocsis did a great job. I think he captured really well the soul of Ravel's orchestration.

Ravel was a true genius.

Damn, that final climax from 23:48 though, goosebumps every time. What incredible orchestration from Zoltán Kocsis.

I have this on CD. Some weekend mornings, if the light is right in my living room, I'll listen to it while browsing a large volume of impressionist paintings which I own. It is one of the chief delights in my life.

This music should be prescribed listening for depression.

Menuet. Such beauty. Leaves me breathless at its closure.

So glad I found this work of art!!

The joy versus the memory of death is only conceived in genius. This has been my perfection since I first heard it 43 years ago.

Why is the piece/composer not more famous? I've never heard of him & yet I've stumbled upon a most beautiful masterpiece like no other

a long time ago I had to vacate my house all my life to sell it, I remember having been all the time with my dog ​​accompanying me and listening to "le tambeau de Couperin"

Many thanks to Ravel for giving oboists a piece of their own. What a pleasure and privilege to play.

Both this and daphne et chloe are completely stunning

I forgot how cheeky the forlane is I can't hear the prelude without crying. This really is the pinnacle of orchestration

This music feels as if I am stepping into an enchanted place.

this makes me feel like i'm in a magical fairy tale... i feel very inspired to draw something like that listening to this

The Menuet is the most perfect wake-up music. Just sublime! Ease you gently into the day. 😊

Me alegra ver que esta obra de Ravel es más apreciada hoy en día. Ravel era mucho más que solo el Bolero. Personalmente esta obra ha sido una de mis favoritas desde la primera vez que la escuché por accidente en la radio.

Cette œuvre magnifique transcende l'horreur de la Guerre 14-18. L'art triomphe de la barbarie.

2:22 that final crescendo is so magical, you feel like you are about to fly!!

Woodwinds are my love.

A pure joy to listen to this magnificent piece of art. I very much adore Maurice‘s work. His music does good things to my body and soul.

Ravel is amazing. From 20:09-20:28, just this outro of the Menuet is so beautiful it managed to publicly put me in tears, the way the melody just trickles down and rests, then to come up again in resolution, gives me serious goose bumps, and all in just 19 seconds, damn. Try listening at x75 speed, it transforms the music

This reminds me of running happily through Ross Bay Cemetery on a bright Saturday afternoon, occasionally pausing to inhale the fragrance of the boxwood, and perhaps sitting down on one of the tombs to enjoy a chocolate cookie and a soda.

The middle part of the Rigaudon is my life. Thank you

non conoscevo questa composizione, straordinaria!!

Composed between 1914 and 1917, given in first hearing in April 1919 by Marguerite Long, the suite for piano The Tomb of Couperin comprises six pieces, Prelude, Fugue, Forlane, Rigaudon, Menuet and Toccata, dedicated to the memory of friends fallen during the First World War. Ravel later orchestrated four of these pieces, heard for the first time in this form in February 1920 and played in the following order: Prelude, Forlane, Menuet and Rigaudon. Almost 80 years later, Hungarian pianist and conductor Zoltán Kocsis set about orchestrating the two remaining pieces, Fugue and Toccata. It is this complete orchestral version that can be heard here, performed by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zoltán Kocsis (the image on the video is a partial view of a drawing by Ravel on the original score). Follow one another as follows: [00:00] Prelude ("in memory of Lieutenant Jacques Charlot"); [03:08] Fugue ("In memory of Second Lieutenant Jean Cruppi"); [06:20] Forlane ("in memory of Lieutenant Gabriel Deluc"); [12:23] Rigaudon ("in memory of Pierre and Pascal Gaudin"); [15:24] Menuet ("in memory of Jean Dreyfus"); [20:32] Toccata ("in memory of Captain Joseph de Marliave")

I love both the piano and the orchestral version. The prelude feels to me like a walk on the hills on a windy day...

This peace of Ravel is one of the saddest and most profound music pieces ever written, and nevertheless comforting and life assuring.

Ravel extracted everything from the Orchestra on this fine piece of Music. Came here today to listen it after a lonh while... What a beauty Le Tombeau encloses...

Quand le monde fléchit autour de soi, quand les structures d’une civilisation vacillent, il est bon de revenir à ce qui, dans l’histoire, ne fléchit pas, mais au contraire redresse le courage, rassemble les séparés, pacifie sans meurtrir. Il est bon de rappeler que le génie de la création est lui aussi, à l’œuvre dans une histoire vouée à la destruction;

*my mind cannot even begin to comprehend the genius of ravel.*

I had an outer body experience listening to the end of this. I was stoned.

the oboe solo gives me life.

I first discovered this gift about 10 years ago. At the time, I was fairly bipolar with regards to my mental state, and had been listening to classical for a few years to try to offset it, among other things like drugs and god knows what else. I was at a pretty low point, and I had just seen The Tree of Life, by Terrence Mallick. That film blew me away because that troubled, middle-child in the film, played by Sean Penn, that was me: the black sheep. But I loved the music, and one piece that had me in tears was Les barricades mysterieuses by Francois Couperin. I don't know why, but, it touched me to the core of my soul. I had just returned from China from teaching in a big city where I was pretty much the only white person in a sea of millions of strangers. I had no direction whatsoever in life after returning from China, even with a master's degree in something socially and culturally inapplicable like the humanities. At any rate, there was this day where I'm moving into a new apartment because I had just gotten kicked out of my folks' place. I was at a dangerous low with this bipolar mind of mine, and while I was painting, I turned on the radio, and Julie Nezrallah on CBC radio 2 (Tempo) started talking about this work. I listened to it in its entirety and just bawled my eyes out. It was so beautiful. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was, and how at some points, I noticed how it was tinged with this sweet melancholy that not everyone is privy to. I then learned of the title and smiled from ear to ear, since tombeau means tombstone. For years now, since I learned about classical music in a faraway humanities class (god bless you, Richard Teleky), whenever darkness is made visible, whenever the black dogs come barking, whenever the noonday demon feels like dining with me, I play something like this, like The Four Last Songs by Strauss. No one can remain in a bad mood with this piece by Ravel. Pure soul panacea, pure genius! No one does music like this anymore. Blessings to you all for noticing and appreciating it, you're such a lovely crowd because your souls have all been touched by it... this is such a beautiful rendition.

I can honestly say of no composer other then the sublime Ravel that he wrote not a single note of which I disapprove. His entire oeuvre a wondrous gift.

What a incredible job Kocsis did with Toccata, just amazing.

Rigaudon SLAPS omfg

This music brings me joy, not unlike seeing something wonderful in nature.

This takes me back to my GCSE studies... I found an old box of LPs and turn table in our garage, there was a La Valse LP that I listened to for dayyyys, so I went out and got a full works CD box set from the dusty classical section of HMV, the guy at the till was so intrigued and exited I picked it out to buy, the 5 section reminded me of my awakening to Ravel. The composer's of early 20th century films would of struggled without these great harmonious expressions and melodic themes... I can hear scores from bible epics, musicals and film hours echoing through all of Ravels work... Love this peice.

Incredible arrangement. I am sure Ravel would deeply approve!

That prelude is absolutely magical... I haven't even finished the whole piece yet, but I have a feeling it's gonna feel magical 😂💖

Forlane sounds like a dungeon from Dragon quest. Love the whole piece.

Ravel's music is a marvel and delight, rigor and depth - all at once. What is buffling - this undying idiotic notion present in academic assessment of his oevre that it lacks in feeling. What he does is hard to pinpoint and categorize. Habitually he is lumped with Debussy, but he is not impressionist per se - there is a lot of structure in his writing. He is fluid, unpredictable and unexpected - annoying qualities for academic handling. That is exactly what I love about him! Ravel is atypical in everything - he was a dandy, a worldly sophisticated if remote man, he was discreet and exceedingly polite, though opinionated and professionally he was a thoughtful perfectionist insisting on compositional and sonic polish of his every piece. That is an image that induces envy in clumsy bohemian types and uptight academics. The utmost elegance of expression in his writing is so compelling and moving. I agree, he was ahead of his time and remains so relevant in my opinion due to the brilliance of compositional structure and innovative approach to harmonics. Bach was after the same things. That's a very good company.

this piece was my companion when i sat alone at lunch in 9th grade. lunch was just long enough to almost listen to this twice, and by the time the toccata started playing for the 2nd time i knew lunch would be over soon love this piece to death and especially the fugue its just. so good

ses amis morts au cours de la guerre peuvent reposer en paix , avec cet hommage musical si tendre.

Lump in my throat every time. Beyond incredible. Ravel is the master

LOVE all these comments......I learned so much.....

Part of this sounds mischievous to me, & I've enjoyed it since I was a child.Bravo, Mr. Ravel! You are among my favorite composers.

Ich hatte diese Musik bei einer Reise an die Nordsee um 1990 im Ohr, weil ich sie davor oft gehört habe. Wenn ich mir das Stück heute anhöre kommen mir immer noch die Bilder von der Reise damals in den Sinn. Die Klangfarben und das wechselhafte Nordseewetter passen wohl perfekt zusammen.

R.I.P Zoltán Kocsis who orchestrated the Fugue and the Toccata in this suite.

Where has this piece been all my life? I've been sitting at my computer, bored out of my mind, looking up music for a listening class. And then this came on and I actually started laughing to myself because of how cool it was.

I didn't know about Zoltán Kocsis' additional 2 arrangements for this suite. But he has done a fantastic job - it stands up with Ravel's own sublime orchestration!

Never heard the orchestrated Fugue and Toccata before! I wonder why Ravel didn't do those himself? Menuet is one of my favorite pieces EVER by anybody. It embodies the French countryside itself, even though it had different intentions.

I've been listening to this recording for years; still pulls on my heartstrings. Timeless masterpiece!

This fugue is so beautiful in piano and it got even more beautiful ❤️

Menuet is almost unbearably beautiful. Thank you so very much! Ravel is like an old friend.

This is one of the most amazing recordings I have ever heard

This will always be my favorite orchestral piece. Simply divine

The most beautiful peace

The two piano pieces that Ravel chose not to orchestrate--the fugue and toccata--have been arranged previously for small woodwind quintet and saxophone ensembles, but Kocsis' orchestral additions, although not quite as brilliant as the composer's, do seem to fit. As this is one of the most gorgeous pieces in the repertoire, famed for its oboe solos, let's hope more conductors add Kocsis to their performances. Twenty four and half minutes of enchantment!

Hommage à vous,Maurice. Vous avez souffert à quelques kilomètres de mon lieu de vie, 35 ans avant ma naissance. Dieue sur Meuse.30.06.1953. JM

Sounds like a fast-moving stream. Very lively! This has always been my favorite recording of this piece.

Algo tiene esta obra que llena de encanto. No lo sé que es . Es simplemente maravillosa. La he escuchado 1 millón de veces.

Toccata is so freakin awesome

Ravel...un génie

Só um gênio poderia compor com lirismo uma peça séria adornada de semitons e sustenidos . Este gênio se chama RAVEL !

A stupendous piece of music. It should please everyone that hears it.

Such a delicate quality to this piece. Paints vibrant, imaginative pictures.

Totally exquisite orchestration!

I love this rendition, and have listened to it here many times, but the ads are very distressing. Having such sublime beauty interrupted by commercials saddens me greatly. I'll have to search RU-vid and see if anyone else has posted this rendition sans ads.

A wonderful performance of a matchless work... Thank you! Un merveilleux spectacle d'une œuvre incomparable ... Merci!

I just found out about this a month ago and I still haven't gotten it out of my head since.

And yes, I have actually played this piece.

Been listening to classical in the car on the way to work lately. Had to look this one up.

whoa! I didn't know all six movements were orchestrated!

this moves me each time I hear it.

This makes me want to actually learn the fugue, really amazing orchestration. So incredible.

This is sublime!

this piece makes me feel like taking a hike up on a beautiful forest trail in autumn

That Prelude kills me...