Le Tombeau de Couperin

Created during the First World War, Maurice Ravel's composition 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' casts a longing look at the past while at the same time being full to the brim with traces of modern music. Each of the six movements is dedicated to friends who died in battle. In 1919 Ravel arranged four of these movements for large orchestra by skilfully borrowing melodic lines and colours from the piano setting. In the present new arrangement written for the Stella Piano Trio, these elements were adjusted to the instrumentation and their relationship within the ensemble. As in Ravel's orchestration, each note is taken into account, even if the cello is sometimes given a melody which is an octave lower than the original.