Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/19/2007, uploaded on 01/12/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Maurice Ravel produced two miniatures for piano in 1913 for an anthology by Alfredo Casella of pieces written in the style of other composers. The first, À la manière de Borodin paid homage to the Russian composer whose fame was spread outside of Russia mainly by Franz Liszt. The second piece, À la manière de Chabrier, on the other hand, was written in style of one of Ravel’s compatriots. Emmanuel Chabrier produced a relatively small number of works during the latter part of the 19^th century, yet ones of particularly high quality. His music was greatly admired by the succeeding French Impressionists, including Debussy, Ravel and Satie, as well as other composers such as Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky. Both pieces are relatively simple compared to many of his technically demanding piano works, thus placing them within reach of less skilled pianists. Though overshadowed by the rest of Ravel’s piano oeuvre, they are nonetheless charming pieces in their own right. Roughly two minutes in length, À la manière de Chabrier borrows a melody from the work of another French composer, Gounod’s Faust. The style of Chabrier is evoked in the waltz-like setting of the piece, the vibrant and translucent harmonies, and a slight tinge of melancholy in its sentimental mood.     Joseph DuBose

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À la manière de Chabrier           Maurice Ravel

While this short piece by Maurice Ravel in not in as grand a scale as the composer's major piano pieces, such as Miroirs and Gaspardde la Nuit, it contains the same charms.  The theme it uses is actually by Gounod (Siebel's song "Faîtes-lui mes aveux", from Faust), but treated as Emmanuel Chabrier (1841 - 1894) might have adapted it.      Sehee Kim

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.