@@talon_how_ya_durrin5534 It is absolutely not. He literally said he chose the title because he liked the words and that it had nothing to do with the composition.
What I've learned from this recording is that the composer truly does have more insight than anyone else. Ravel emphasised a lot of the inner voicings rather than "main melody" which a lot of pianists tend to neglect. Examples: 1:28 - 1:30, 4:15 - 4:19. He also arpeggiated a lot of the chords rather than play it straight, keeping the sound very flowy and ethereal. Plus THAT ENDING! Pianists usually play it earsplittingly loud, whereas he simply faded out ever-so-gently. God bless Ravel.
Mehra Ahsan That’s absolutely right I agree with you, that a composer knows more about his/her piece than anyone else. Ever since I heard this recording and saw your comment, I’ve been trying to bring out the inner voices in this piece. Truly god bless Ravel, and any other person and composer who could play this well.
I'm a little confused, because 1:28 - 1:30 is actually marked on the score as a separate voice. It seems any pianist worth their salt should know to coax out the melody. Edit: also want to add that my edition of the Pavane is marked fortissimo at the end. It does sound horrible any louder than mezzo-forte, but ff is supposedly what's instructed.
thank you Mehra for this insightful comment. i am a pianist beginning composer learning my music theory and this is really useful for me. Kempff was a master at inner voicings!
Actually he uses wind from REB (rapid eye blinking). Its imperceptible but it is there. French school REB. Very few people know that the photograph was taken by himself too.
My mother once told me Ravel was my great-grandfather's favorite composer. I used to think his music was a bit boring, but now that I have grown mature myself I love it!
Ravel is by far my favorite composer. His Left-Hand Piano Concerto and Daphnis et Chloe are my favorite works by him-along with this piece, of course-and many others: Sonatine (especially the 2nd Movement), La Valse, Miroirs, Gaspard de la Nuit, Ma Mére l’Oye, his “Three Poems of Stephanne Malarme” Song Cycle, and his Opera: “L’Enfant et les Sortiléges”. ❤️❤️❤️
@@wallacememberships Gaspard is wonderful. It took a little more time for me to get into it,it was kind of out there,it didn't seem to have the melodic quality that I am used to with Ravel, but then I listened to Michelangeli play it and I understood what all the fuss was about, it's a remarkable piece. It's the same with Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, I wasn't getting it when I first heard it, it seems so disjointed and unmusical, I have listened to it a few more times, I still don't really like it but it's growing on me. Have you heard The String Quartet in F Major? It's another one of my favorites.
Yes, Ravel recorded this on a roll. Although he is reputed to have called for this to be played vary slowly, this is actually faster than several modern recordings. Still that takes nothing away from this piece. Truly one of the masterpieces.
He famously told one young pianist whom he thought played it too slowly, "I have written a Pavane for a dead princess -- not a dead Pavane for a princess."
I think it is because of the limitation of the recording technique of that time. Rachmaninoff also played his pn concerto faster than it should be in the recording.
I listened to it at normal (1x) speed and again at .75x speed, which turns out to sound closer to the tempo of modern recordings, though almost too slow. The glisses and pauses sound less rushed and more realistic, in my opinion.There's a bit of distortion, though, so I get why it's at the tempo it's at
It's actually crazy how much he got out of the piano. Ravel was more expressive playing this piece than any orchestra I've heard playing it. And he definitely didn't play a "dead pavane", this is a good pace and he doesn't try to make it more emotional by slowing it down. If it's played too slow it's music for a funeral procession, not a dance after the funeral.
What a different interpretation! The pianist certainly has a bigger view on death, separation and departure. He didn’t stick in a sorrow loop and magnifying those emotions, he jumped out of it, seeing it from above or as a person who lived it through. Seeing the matter with wit. He made it light.
What a different insight - perhaps part of the reason for this feeling is the very firm, definite way he plays his chords and uses the pedal. The piece can be tragic or triumphant - he plays on the side of triumph.
Maurice Ravel himself said that the piece wasn't meant for mourning. He was just imagining the type of Pavane she'd might have danced to if she were still alive.
I always come back to this version. I love the way Ravel plays (I’m aware this is a piano roll, but this is the closest we’ll ever get to hearing Ravel himself playing in this life). The colors are vibrant. The tempo isn’t too slow-or a “dead Pavane” as Ravel himself said once when critiquing a performance he heard from a student. The way he arpeggiates most of the chords brings out more of the inner voices. The harmonies weave so well together. I’ve seen plenty of comments here saying this interpretation is too fast. I feel this is perfect-representing the princess dancing freely, rather than coming off as a funeral march. There’s a piano roll recording of Ravel’s “Le Gibet” from Gaspard de la Nuit, along with “La Valleé des Cloches” from his Miroirs Suite. Both are beautifully-crafted, graceful, dreamy performances, but “La Valleé des Cloches” especially gives me goosebumps and can get me teary-eyed at times. I beg to differ when people say Ravel wasn’t a good performer. Granted, Ravel held that view about himself as well, but he was also very self-critical anyway. 🤷🏻♀️ Still. I’ve never heard a piece of his that I haven’t fallen in love with. Even Bolero, as repetitive as that is. 😂 Ravel is my favorite composer-by far. ❤️🎼
Ravel's playing this piece seems to me to evoke a music box ......... and, yes, even the little twirling ballerina on the top. Even with that, I always weep.
I thought the same thing. He is letting the melody speak for itself like the pretty thing that it is. Just like a little music box. Especially at the beginning.
His music has color in the harmony. I absolutely love this piece and Gaspar de la nuit. So much color from 1 instrument. His harmonic movement is unparelled
His “Miroirs” Suite is incredible, too, especially the 5th Movement IMO. Yes, the 3rd and 4th Movements are much more popular in that Suite, but I feel the 5th Movement is an underrated gem. ❤️
This performance is beyond description ， and full of admiration , acclaim and deep emotion , and comfortable to the ear and the mind From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵
Stunning; haunting. I've listened to this many many time but never seen this. Maestro. This is how this should be played. Its totally different. I don't know ANYTHING about music but I know what I like. N that gorgeous gentle ending!
Delicately and delightful...played by the composer who enriches the music by his style as he the composer intended it to be heard for himself and others. Really greatness at work, pure genius and timeless.
Je suis fasciné. Elle n'est pas aussi tragique qu'elle pense l'être. Elle est aussi radieuse. Ravel me rappelle que l'on ne fait que s'inscrire dans une continuité. Ce serait se voiler la face que se donner de l'importance. Il a créé du beau, ce fut sa vie. Il y en a eu d'autres, il y en aura d'autres. La quête de l'innovation a peu de sens, non ?
Oui, ça paraît être une incohérence, une si belle musique qui traite de la mort d'une enfant. Et pour moi c'est souvent le cas que la tristesse devient quelque-chose de beau ainsi. Henryk Gorecki, la Symphonie no. 3 les chants plaintifs, sur la Shoah, et les chansons de Schubert sur les enfants morts. Incompréhensible.
A song that my mother was listening with tears in her eyes . My favorite song that smells of my mother . From Tokyo in the dizzying Megalopolis ablaze with numerous neon lights Which national are you watching this video ？
This was my favorite Ravel work (usually heard in the orchestrated version) until I heard the "Adagio assai" from his piano Concerto in G. In my listening experience, these are uncharacteristic of his work.
Hearing Ravel's version of this piece and the recording I have of this piece that was played much slower is different, and from my perspective, it changes the scenery of the piece when I hear it.
I have read that when Ravel was asked what "princess" he was writing this piece about, he said there was no "princess". He just wrote the piece. Personally, I think he didn't realize how powerful this piece is, and might be surprised at the way it is interpreted now. In other performances, I feel it evokes the overwhelming poignancy of the death of a beautiful young one. I was really surprised to hear how Ravel played it. It's certainly charming, but, I think he misses the great potential of the piece. It wouldn't be the first time an artist struck gold unconsciously. The muse was with him when he wrote it.
I've listened to a lot of deferent types of songs and bands from rock and dubstep to jazz and even sea shanties but this this hits deferent and I like it.
What a versatile musician Ravel was❗ Listening to Ravel’s music, the passage of time Ìs visible to me There Ìs time when I can see eternity I am a wanderer through time Someday, somewhere, I will meet Ravel and Princess Margarita
It is wonderful, hearing the composer, the creator, in action, with sounds that stir the deep parts of our souls. New approaches to sound, chords, lines, melody in its spread today, never lost or outpassed...
I’ve read that Ravel never intended for this to be a “dirge”, or even a sad piece of music. Rather, it was a piece of music out-of-time for Princesses who had passed. But it was not about their passing. I’ve listened to many versions of this piece of music, and am so glad to hear it from the Composer himself. I believe I like Ravel’s interpretation best of all. A haunting piece of music, no matter where, when, or by whom it is performed.
Wow. I first listened to this music from an rpg i played back then called Breath of FIRE IV. One of its OSTs used this music. Pavane for a Dead Princess.
The notes beneath that supports the min melody is like the hidden emotions of hurt locked deep inside his heart. Like depths of the ocean the surface is beautiful but the deeper you get, it hurts like feeling of drowning.
Vous pouvez écouter les chansons dessinées par le label lui-même ! !! !! Immédiatement devant moi, j'avais l'impression que Label lui-même jouait du piano ! Merci de nous faire écouter cette chanson.
@@Hailey_Paige_1937 daphnis et chloe is my all time favorite, close seconds are ma mere l'oye and the string quartet ! but i love eveything hahaha what about you?
@@tttenebre Piano Concerto for the Left Hand Sonatine Miroirs L’Enfant et les Sortiléges Daphnis et Chloe Ma Mère l’Oye Pavane for a Dead Princess And more, haha.
Something that adds a lot of moment to the internal commentary the composer infuses into this performance of this piece. I think it's valuable for the instrumentalist learning the piece.
@@joost505 Dementia of a sort, but almost certainly caused by a head injury after a traffic accident. In October 1932 Ravel was injured when a taxi he was travelling in crashed; his mental decline began there.
Do you think in the "afterlife" we get treated to even more music by the great, of which Ravel was certainly one? Why is it (perhaps even more in the orchestrated version) with literally 4 seconds, your heart breaks?
I once heard a man relate that in a near-death experience not only there was music but you could listen to a dozen pieces of music at a time and enjoy each one as if you were giving it your undivided attention, and that there was both familiar and unfamiliar music, all of it very beautiful.
@@raycaruso8026 Sounds good (literally) to me! I sometimes wonder if the marvels we have on earth (via our Friend Mozart and others) will only be exponentially equisite in the afterlife (if there is one). Unimaginable, but I"ll try it out. Do you know the beginning of Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" It begins with the creator making music and calling things into being. Gorgeous. And much more interesting than Genesis (and better written).
I don't know why people treat this piece as a funereal piece or something so extremely sad. It would better be translated as "Pavane for a Princess from a Far-Away Time," simply a nostalgic memory about a young girl who is going about her regular, day-today life without all the sadness and bombast the current hearers want to load into it.
I agree, but unfortunately most people seem to want music to be sad, or at least think that sadness and tragedy are the height of musical expression. Hence the common preference for slow movements and the often desperate attempt to link them to some drama in the composer's life.
It's because people don't want to pay attention to the music and draw their interpretations from within the score, which is the appropriate thing to do but which is, unfortunately, beyond the musical ability of most hack musicians. And to those below who are being disagreeable: "When asked by the composer-conductor Manoah Leide-Tedesco how he arrived at the title Pavane pour une infante défunte, Ravel smiled coyly and replied, "Do not be surprised, that title has nothing to do with the composition. I simply liked the sound of those words and I put them there, c'est tout".
it sounds like looking through the room and personal belongings of the dead princess--seeing her photos and smelling her perfumes. knowing she is gone, but experiencing her memory.
Ci sono dei brani come questo che io non conoscevo prima di due giorni fa che esprimono la voce di Dio. La Meditation di Massenet è un esempio. Questo brano è riuscito ad impadronirsi del mio animo e ad aiutarmi ad esprimere la mie visioni ed emozioni con totale naturalezza nella sua magnificenza. Il Tombeau de Couperin è un' altra composizione impressionante per la sua meraviglia unica. In questi giorni ho ascoltato anche Eugene D' Albert che fu anche straordinario compositore e altri pianisti in registrazioni della fine dell' Ottocento/ prima metà del Novecento. Ho scoperto una IMMENSA SENSIBILITÀ musicale data da un gusto esecutivo e da una passione quasi perduta al giorno d' oggi dove sembra spesso essere rilevante il solo "freddo" virtuosismo, anche esso magnifico ed importantissimo ma da praticare sapendo trasmettere emozione .
A treat to hear his own rendition. Played with Innocent charm, at times haltingly. Does anyone know much about ravel's relations with his Spanish mother? One feels there's a lot of closeness there. A wonderful find!
This is the culmination of Ravel's aesthetics . I am only intoxicated with this incomparable performance and this Ravel's masterpiece . From chaotic Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun . Which country is your ？
@@samratpalunwa139 ありがとう‼️ Japanese thank-you ！ Japan is autumn . In the autumn , the plaintive chirp of the ephemeral life's autumn insects permeates our Japanese hearts from 1000years ago . Do you have the Japanese way of thinking about the atmosphere and wistful and sadness of autumn ？ Take care of yourself Good luck ！ Be on the alert for Coronavirus infection ！
Tokyo , where the hustle and bustle swirl , is clear autumn . I am astounded that this performance is incomparable . I am listening to this favorite music while hearing the sings of autumn insects that chirp with transient life . From Tokyo in the dizzying Megalopolis ablaze with numerous neon lights Which national are you watching this video ？
@@Dixieland1806 ありがとう‼️Arigato ！ ( Japanese thanks ) How is France where we Japanese deeply love and respect ？ Japan , especially Tokyo is cruel and hustle and bustle with the Coronavirus infection . In the neighborhood of Tokyo , all the cherry blossoms in full bloom have been scattered , and the cherry trees become only green leaves . After having been scattered , there are the lacking and pensive atmosphere . In this spring of Tokyo , all banquet under the cherry blossoms in full bloom having gorgeous Bento , delicious foods , treats and drinks while dancing , eating , singing and drinking is perfect self - restraint . In Tokyo , more and more people are using bicycles to commute to work . They are afraid of Coronavirus infection on trains and buses . At bicycles shops , folding bicycles between 2000 euros and 3000 euros are selling well . Coronavirus fear surpasses the amount . Don't be careless Be on the alert for Coronavirus infection Just talking or touching are infected . Good luck ！ Hang in there ！ France ！
Thank you for choosing to upload this audio recording, though something strange has happened to the original sound, perhaps extra reverb which makes the pitches uncertain. The original audiio recording of this music roll was made by Denis Hall, of London, England, and supplied by him to Pierian Records, since the late Ken Caswell, of Austin, Texas, did not have a Duo-Art piano. Denis made recordings of three Ravel Duo-Art rolls, which was done as a favour to Ken, who was a good friend of both Denis and me. It seems to me that the years of work on such pianos, restoring and regulating both the piano and player actions, ought to be properly credited on RU-vid. The piano used was a 1922 Hamburg Steinway grand, with Duo-Art mechanisms installed by the Aeolian Company's German agency in Berlin. It's all too easy to forget the people whose work helped to create these recordings, and I would include in that Reginald Reynolds, the Duo-Art recording producer in London in the 1920s. Furthermore, I see that someone called William Orbit is credited as the writer of this video, whatever that may mean. He is certainly not a player piano expert, or I should have heard of him, and it's not at all clear to me that he is a Ravel expert either. He makes RU-vid videos of heavily synthesized classical music, one of which happens to be this composition, in a version totally unlike this video. He is not the writer of the original Pierian CD notes, nor did he have anything whatsoever to do with the audio recording, so he should not be credited here. I shall repeat this comment on other RU-vid channels as necessary.
Although he was known for his genius as a composer, for some reason he’s not as well-regarded for his playing abilities... however, you can hear his intentions and genius musical sensitivity in this recording. Very reserved - fairly steady throughout with only a little rubato here and there. It’s slow, but it’s not a dirge! The inner lines are brought out beautifully. I guess this recording also settles the debate on the metronome marking editors still fuss over lol! Much closer to 54 bpm than 80! If you want a faster pavane, go play the beautiful one written by Fauré!
He wasn't well-known as a pianist because, despite his obvious talents, he had no interest in merely playing the piano -- he wanted to compose for it. And once, when he was asked to perform Jeux D'eau, he said, "But I have never played it in my life!"
It's relative, he won first prize for piano performance at the paris conservatory as a student so I wouldn't give that too much weight, like barenboim or ashkenazy, they can play just as well but have talents elsewhere
Have some respect for an old great who could write a song each day of the week and any one of them would make your year-long efforts look amateur and robotic in comparison.
For its time, a pretty straight interpretation, but it is said that Ravel (like Fauré) didn't like a lot of rubato, with arbitrary emotional slowing down and speeding up at the whim of the performer. It's a wonderful thing to have such easy access to recordings by such marvellous musicians as Ravel. Even if some of the pianists who heard him play found him technically slightly 'sloppy', one has to ask what they were expecting from a full-time, and very meticulous composer... You can't be a full-time virtuoso pianist as well - because of the hours of practice you have to put in - unless you're Rachmaninoff, of course...
This performance is a treasure of the world From Tokyo of the Land of the Rising Sun 🇯🇵 I might have a dream of Ravel walking in the crowds of Paris . talking to Debussy . This dream is the ultimate in bliss for me .
Inderdaad fantastische muziek ik luister vaak de versie voor Harmonie orkest. Maar hier door de meester gespeeld klinkt prachtig zoals hij het voelt en bedoeld.
He plays it very classically, without sentiment, and with brisee (broken) chords, as well as carefully arpeggiated chords. It's really much more suited to the harp than the piano.
