Maurice Ravel’s masterpiece ‘Ma mère l’Oye’ (suite ‘Mother Goose’) was written in 1910 as a piano duet (four hands on one piano), it was rearranged for piano with two hands by the composer’s friend Jacques Charlot the same year. Both editions bear the subtitle: Cinq pièces enfantines (Five children’s pieces). The movements are:
1. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant (Pavane of Sleeping Beauty).
2. Petit Poucet (Little Tom Thumb).
3. Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes (Little ugly girl, Empress of the Pagodas).
4. Les entretiens de la belle et de bête (Conversation of Beauty and the Beast).
5. Le jardin féerique (The Fairy Garden).
The pieces are based on popular fairy tales by Charles Perrault, Madame d’Aulnoy and Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.
Ravel orchestrated the suite the following year; later the same year he expanded it into a ballet by interspersing the existing five movements with four newly composed interludes. It premiered at the end of January 1912 in Paris.
Without question, Ravel is one my favourite composers. During the course of arranging the work for three guitars I thought long and hard as how best to realise Ravel’s intentions. All available editions were consulted and sections from each were incorporated into the guitar score. Of course, some minor compromises were necessary but I like to think the guitar arrangement brings something to the music that the piano and orchestral versions cannot. It was a joy to arrange, if not easy, and I hope guitarists will obtain a great deal of pleasure from performing it.
