"Tombeaux" by Ravel and Daugherty

Synopsis

These days fallen American soldiers are often honored in silence, as their photos, names, ages, and hometowns are flashed on the TV screen during news programs.

During World War I, the French composer Maurice Ravel served as an ambulance driver, and saw many soldiers die. He wanted to honor some of his fallen comrades, namely Jean Cruppi, Jean Dreyfus, the brothers Pierre and Pascal Gaudin—who were both killed by the same German artillery shell, Lieutenants Jacques Charlot and Gabriel Deluc, and Captain Joseph de Marliave.  Being a composer, Ravel chose music rather than silence to honor his war dead and wrote a suite of piano pieces he titled Le tombeau de Couperin — a joint tribute to his fallen comrades and a famous 18th century French composer.

The resulting suite was premiered in 1919 by the great French pianist Marguerite Long, who was also Captain Marliave's widow. That same year, Ravel orchestrated four movements of his suite, and this orchestral version of Le Tombeau received its first performance in Paris on today’s date in 1920.

When criticized for composing a light-hearted, albeit reflective work, rather than a somber one, perhaps more appropriate for such somber topic, Ravel replied: "The dead are sad enough, in their eternal silence."

Music Played in Today's Program

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

On This Day

Births

• 1876 - American composer John Alden Carpenter, in Park Ridge, Illinois;

Premieres

• 1688 - M.-A. Charpentier: opera "David et Jonathas," in Paris;

• 1728 - Handel: opera “Siroe, re di Persia” (Julian date: Feb. 17);

• 1862 - Gounod: opera "La Reine de Saba" (The Queen of Sheba), in Paris;

• 1888 - Tchaikovsky: “Pezzo capriccioso” for cello and orchestra, in Paris;

• 1898 - Kalinnikov: Symphony No. 2 (Gregorian date: Mar. 12);

• 1904 - d'Indy: Symphony No. 2 in Paris;

• 1912 - Nielsen: Symphony No. 3 ("Sinfonia espansiva" & Violin Concerto (with soloist Emil Telmányi), in Copenhagen, with the composer conducting;

• 1920 - Ravel: orchestral suite "Le Tombeau de Couperin," at a Pasdeloup Concert in Paris;

• 1929 - Pizzetti: "Concerto dell'estate" (Summer Concerto) by the New York Philharmonic, Arturo Toscanini conducting;

• 1936 - Roy Harris: Symphony No. 2, by the Boston Symphony & "Prelude and Fugue" for strings by the Philadelphia Orchestra;

• 1940 - Cowell: "Old American Country Set," by the Indianapolis Symphony, Fabien Sevitzky conducting;

• 1976 - Ralph Shapey: oratorio "Praise" in Chicago;

• 1991 - John Harbison: Symphony No. 3, by the Baltimore Symphony, David Zinman conducting;

• 1994 - George Tsontakis: "Winter Lightning" (No. 4 of "Four Symphonic Quartets" after poems by T.S. Eliot), by the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz conducting;

Others

• 1739 - London music publisher John Walsh the younger issues Handel’s Trio Sonatas, Op. 5 (Gregorian date: Mar. 11);

• 1874 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, at New York's Academy of Music, by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra; Thomas also introduced this concerto to Cincinnati (May 19, 1882) and Chicago (Feb. 5, 1892);

• 1882 - The Royal College of Music is founded in London.