Synopsis

Maurice Ravel’s orchestral suite "Le Tombeau de Couperin" was premiered in Paris on this day in 1920. It had started out as a suite of solo piano pieces, intended as a tribute to the great French Baroque composer François Couperin – or, as Ravel wrote, “not so much to Couperin himself, as to 18th-century French music in general.”

Although the French word “tombeau” translates literally as “tomb,” it also signifies a musical piece paying tribute to a past master, in the English sense of “in memoriam.” In that spirit, Ravel dedicated each movement of his suite to friends of his  killed during World War I.

Although the “tombeau” as a musical form has been associated almost exclusively with French composers, one contemporary American composer has used the form as well, albeit with more wickedly satirical intent. Michael Daugherty’s “Tombeau de Liberace” jokingly references the late pianist and showman, a kitschy icon of 20th century American pop culture.

Michael Daugherty says (quote), “Starting from the vernacular idiom, I have composed ‘Le Tombeau de Liberace’ as a meditation on the American sublime: a lexicon of forbidden music. It is a piano concertino in four movements, each creating a distinct Liberace atmosphere.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937) — Le tombeau de Couperin (Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, cond.) Teldec 74006