Ravel, M :: Mother Goose Suite, Part 1

Musicians Publications presents Maurice Ravel s Mother Goose Suite arranged for woodwind quintet and presented in three parts by Bill Holcombe Jr.

This third part in Holcombe s Suite includes The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood and Tom Thumb .

Youngster Maurice Ravel was musically gifted and destined for a music career from early childhood. He entered the Paris Conservatory at age 14 where he studied for the next 15 years. From the beginning of his musical career Ravel followed a clear, direct path. He learned through studies of the classics that in order to know one s own technique, one must learn the technique of others; no one ever finishes the jobs of learning and shaping a technique or a style.

In 1908 the composer wrote a children s piano duet for two of his young friends. The work consisted of five tableaus from ancient French fairy tales that dealt with moralistic issues. In translation the suite is The Mother Goose Suite, but the composer singled out a single image from each story rather than musically illustrate the whole plot. His representations are the musical equivalent of watercolors and etchings and contain a complete range of dynamics and emotion.

- Dr. Steven Errante