Instrumentation: Clarinet Quartet (3 x Clarinets, 1 x Bass Clarinet)
Playing time: about 20 minutes 16 seconds
Grade: 5
score & parts
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Size/number of pages: 210 × 297 mm/35 pages
"Grave de Couperin" is Ravel's last piano solo piece and consists of six pieces: "Prelude", "Fugue", "Forlane", "Rigaudon", "Minuet" and "Toccata". In this arrangement for clarinet quartet, following Ravel's own orchestration, we have excerpted four pieces: "Prelude", "Forlane", "Minuet" and "Rigaudon". Ravel's music, as described by Igor Stravinsky as the "Swiss watchmaker," contains a variety of traditional elements colored with bold harmonies in a perfectly calculated structure like a precision machine. Textures modeled after form are woven. When World War I broke out, Ravel applied to join the military as a pilot in the Air Force, but was rejected because of his small physique. The composition of "Tomb of Couperin" was temporarily suspended due to enlistment, but was completed after discharge, and each song was dedicated to friends who died in battle. Ravel, who used many predecessor forms such as sonata form and baroque, explored the style of the 18th century by studying and imitating the work of the 18th century composer François Couperin's Clubsin in "The Tomb of Couperin." You've created a beautiful piece of art that's classic to admire.