Christoph Enzel

Ma Mère L'Oye (Mother Goose)

Ma Mère L'Oye', one of Ravel's most well-known and most often-performed works, was originally conceived and written as a piano duet (1908) and later on arranged for orchestra (1911). Inspired by the 17th century fairy tales penned by the French authors Charles Perrault ('Contes de ma mère l'oye') and Marie Cathérine Aulnoy, Maurice Ravel created five dreamlike pieces full of beauty:'Pavane de la Belle au Bois Dormant' ('Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty'), 'Petit Poucet' ('Little Tom Thumb'), 'Laideronette, Impératrice des Pagodes' ('Little Ugly Girl, Empress of the Pagodas'), 'Les Entretiens de la Belle et la Bête' ('Conversations of Beauty and the Beast') as well as 'Le Jardin Féerique' ('The Fairy Garden'). Some of the compositions are preceded by excerpts from the corresponding fairy tales.