Something... divine

[qccowboy]

I really wish I could take credit for this music, but alas, I cannot.

It accompanies the following poem (in French, here translated for your enjoyment):

Mallarmé: Soupir ("Sigh")
My soul rises towards your brow o calm sister, where there lies dreaming
An autumn strewn with russet freckles,
And towards the restless sky of your angelic eye,
As in a melancholy garden,
A white fountain faithfully sighs towards the Azure!
Towards the compassionate azure of pale and pure October,
Which mirrors its infinite languor in the great pools
And, on the stagnant water where the tawny agony
Of the leaves stirs in the wind and digs a cold furrow,
Lets the yellow sun drag itself out in a long ray.

This magical musical moment begins with a string quartet playing in harmonics, the voice comes in (here played by the Garritan Cor Anglais) with bell-like piano chords, and a lone flute joins the voice in a rising phrase... two clarinets then join in held notes.

The full ensemble is string quartet, two flutes, two clarinets in A, piano, and voice.

It is by Maurice Ravel.

[FLWrd]

Wonderful. Now I know where Glass got his organ riffs from! But by Jove, what a talent for melody and orchestration did Ravel have. And it sounds so expressive, so modern, much more than I usually give him credit for. Thanks for the rendering: these pieces are difficult to record, at least, I've heard quite a few harsh recordings of such settings, so going virtual is certainly a virtue here! And the cor anglais is nicely balanced. I'm going to save it to disk...

[sanyarem]

Hello there Michel.

I really enjoy this piece. It has a very nice atmospheric feel to it. The slight amount of reverb certainly aids in this. Just enough to give it a certain depth, and openness to it. The piano chords really do add a nice touch throughout.

A very relaxing piece, thanks for posting!

Michael

[etLux]

I don't believe I've ever heard this before --
beautiful job on it, Michel! The cor anglais
works perfectly with it.

My best,



David
-----
David Sosnowski
www.DavidSosnowski.com

[qccowboy]

David:

the Mallarmé songs were Ravel's musical response upon hearing Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" for the first time.

They contain some of Ravel's most "out there" music.

[DelCarry]

Michele

nicely rendered! Would like to hear the poem and music together.

Ravel is one of my favourites.

I know what you mean when you said you wished you could say you composed it. I feel the same about Barber's Adagio for Strings. It just moves me That much every time.

Del