Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel

Le Tombeau de Couperin

While the word-for-word meaning of the title invites the assumption that the suite is a programmatic work, describing what is seen and felt in a visit to the tomb of Couperin, tombeau is actually a musical term popular in the 17th century and meaning "a piece written as a memorial". The specific Couperin (among a family noted as musicians for about two centuries) that Ravel intended to be evoked, along with his friends, would presumably be François Couperin "the Great" (1668-1733). However, Ravel stated that his intention was never to imitate or tribute Couperin himself, but rather was to pay homage to the sensibilities of the Baroque French keyboard suite. This is reflected in the structure which imitates a Baroque dance suite. As a preparatory exercise, Ravel had transcribed a forlane (an Italian folk dance) from the fourth suite of Couperin's Concerts Royaux, and this piece invokes Ravel's forlane structurally. However, Ravel's neoclassicism shines through with his pointedly twentieth-century chromatic melody and piquant harmonies.

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

I. Prélude "To the memory of Lieutenant Jacques Charlot"
(who transcribed Ravel's four-hand piece Ma mère l'oye for solo piano)

II. Fugue "To the memory of Jean Cruppi"
(to whose mother Ravel dedicated his opera L'heure espagnole)

III. Forlane "To the memory of Lieutenant Gabriel Deluc"
(a Basque painter from Saint-Jean-de-Luz)

IV. Rigaudon "To the memory of Pierre and Pascal Gaudin"
(brothers killed by the same shell)

V. Menuet "To the memory of Jean Dreyfus"
(at whose home Ravel recuperated after he was demobilized)

VI. Toccata "To the memory of Captain Joseph de Marliave"

Many thanks to Sérgio Assad who made a number of valuable suggestions regarding the Toccata. His edits are all included in this edition.

Byron Fogo - December 2009

About the Arranger

Byron Fogo is a guitarist and free-lance arranger, transcriber, composer, and engraver whose eclectic tastes range from classical to pop, jazz, and Brazilian music. Hal Leonard Corporation, Mel Bay Publications, Editions Orphée, Gendai Guitar, Word Music, Sérgio Assad Music, and Clear Note Publications among others have previously published his materials. His work has also appeared in the periodicals Just Jazz Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar, Classical Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, and Mel Bay's Fingerstyle Review. Mr. Fogo's arrangements have been performed and/or recorded by Shin-ichi Fukuda (Japan), Michael Langer (Austria), Daniel Estrem (USA), Ulla Käll (Norway), and the Godwin-Thompson Duo (USA) among many others.

Mr. Fogo is the president and concert organizer for the Nashville Guitar Society and has been fortunate to have had compositions written for him by Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Marco Pereira, and Ulisses Rocha.

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