View source for Ma mère l'Oye

{{italic title}}
{{short description|Musical suite by Maurice Ravel}}
{{about|the Ravel composition|Jerome Robbins' 1975 ballet to this music|Mother Goose (ballet)|the collection of fairy tales|Histoires ou contes du temps passé}}
[[Image:Ravel Ma Mere l'Oye Laideronnette.PNG|400px|thumb|The opening of the third piece, ''Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes'' (Little Ugly Girl, Empress of the Pagodas). These measures exhibit [[quartal harmony]]. The top line uses the [[pentatonic scale]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benward |first=Bruce |title=Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I |last2=Saker |first2=Marilyn |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-07-294262-0 |edition=7th |pages=37}}</ref> {{audio|Ravel Ma Mere l'Oye Laideronnette.mid|Play}}|alt=]]'''''Ma mère l'Oye''''' (English: ''[[Mother Goose]]'', literally "''My Mother the Goose''") is a [[Suite (music)|suite]] by French composer [[Maurice Ravel]]. The piece was originally written as a five-movement [[piano duet]] in 1910. In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the work.

==Piano versions==
Ravel originally wrote ''Ma mère l'Oye'' as a [[piano duet]] for the [[Cyprian Godebski (sculptor)|Godebski]] children, Mimi and Jean, ages 6 and 7. Ravel dedicated this work for four hands to the children (just as he had dedicated an earlier work, ''[[Sonatine (Ravel)|Sonatine]]'', to their parents). [[Jeanne Leleu]] (age 11) and [[Geneviève Durony]] (age 14<ref>{{cite web |author1=I Llewelyn-Jones |title=Studies in Pianistic Sonority, Nuance and Expression |url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/100830/12/2016llewelyn-jonesiphd%2520DPR.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiBv7j636eKAxUpQUEAHSlQAX0QFnoECCsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Ad9vK-0dgZ0c1GIYWMjfU |website=orca.cardiff.ac.uk |access-date=14 December 2024 |date=2016}}</ref> (10 by another source<ref>{{cite web |title=Ravel's Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes: Refined Exoticism |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/beauty-and-innovation-in-la-machine-chinoise/ravels-laideronnette-imperatrice-des-pagodes-refined-exoticism/E6E78974128924C7CAD9FB064C6CFD09 |website=Beauty and Innovation in la machine chinoise: Falla, Debussy, Ravel, Roussel |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |access-date=14 December 2024 |pages=167–194 |date=2018 |quote=Note this source gives Leleu's age at the time as 6}}</ref>)) premiered the work at the first concert of the [[Société musicale indépendante]] on 20 April 1910.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maurice-ravel.net/leleu.htm|title=Maurice Ravel Frontispice - Jeanne Leleu|publisher=maurice-ravel.net|accessdate=19 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331193417/http://maurice-ravel.net/leleu.htm|archive-date=31 March 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The piece was transcribed for [[solo (music)|solo]] piano by Ravel's friend [[Jacques Charlot]] the same year as it was published (1910); the first movement of Ravel's ''[[Le tombeau de Couperin]]'' was dedicated to Charlot's memory after his death in [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maurice-ravel.net/charlot.htm|title=Maurice Ravel Frontispice - Jacques Charlot|publisher=maurice-ravel.net|accessdate=19 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222162124/https://www.maurice-ravel.net/charlot.htm|archive-date=22 December 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Both piano versions bear the subtitle "cinq pièces enfantines" (five children's pieces). The five pieces are:{{Listen|type=music|filename=Ravel Duo Campion-Vachon Ma Mere l'oye 1 Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant.OGG|title=''Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant'' (1:38)|description=Piano duet performed in 1992 by le Duo Campion/Vachon}}

# ''Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant'': Lent ([[Pavane]] of [[Sleeping Beauty]])
# ''Petit Poucet'': Très modéré (Little [[Tom Thumb]] / [[Hop-o'-My-Thumb]])
# ''Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes'': Mouvt de marche ([[The Green Serpent|Little Ugly Girl, Empress of the Pagodas]])
# ''Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête'': Mouvt de valse très modéré (Conversation of [[Beauty and the Beast]])
# ''Le jardin féerique'': Lent et grave (The Fairy Garden)

''Sleeping Beauty'' and ''Little Tom Thumb'' are based on the tales of [[Charles Perrault]], while ''Little Ugly Girl, Empress of the Pagodas'' is inspired by a tale ([[The Green Serpent]]) by Perrault's "rival" [[Madame d'Aulnoy]]. ''Beauty and the Beast'' is based upon the [[Beauty and the Beast|version by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont]]. The origin of ''The Fairy Garden'' is not entirely known, although the ballet version interprets this as [[Sleeping Beauty]] being awakened in the garden by her prince.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genedelisa.com/2010/01/ravel-mother-goose-suite/|title=Ravel : Ma Mère l'Oye|publisher=genedelisa.com|accessdate=19 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115091253/http://genedelisa.com/2010/01/ravel-mother-goose-suite/|archive-date=15 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

On several of the scores, Ravel included quotes to indicate clearly what he is trying to invoke. For example, for the second piece, he writes:

{{quote|''Il croyait trouver aisément son chemin par le moyen de son pain qu'il avait semé partout où il avait passé; mais il fut bien surpris lorsqu'il ne put retrouver une seule miette: les oiseaux étaient venus qui avaient tout mangé.'' <br/><br/>He believed he'd easily find his way because of the bread that he'd strewn all along his path; but he was very surprised to find not a single crumb: the birds had come and eaten everything.|author=Charles Perrault|source=}}

==Orchestrated version==
In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the five-piece suite. This form is the most frequently heard today.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

Later the same year, he also expanded it into a [[ballet (music)|ballet]], separating the five initial pieces with four new interludes and adding two movements at the start, ''Prélude'' and ''Danse du rouet et scène''. The ballet premiered on 29 January 1912 at the [[Théâtre Hébertot|Théâtre des Arts]] in Paris.<ref>Concert Booklet of [[HKPO]] by Marc Rochester</ref> The eleven numbers are:

{{ordered list|list_style_type=upper-roman
|''Prélude – Très lent''
|''Premier tableau – Danse du rouet et scène'' (Spinning wheel dance and scene)
|''Deuxième tableau – [[Pavane]] de la belle au bois dormant'' ([[Sleeping Beauty]] pavane)
|''Interlude''
|''Troisième tableau – Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête'' (Dialogues of the [[Beauty and the Beast]])
|''Interlude''
|''Quatrième tableau – Petit Poucet'' ([[Hop-o'-My-Thumb]])
|''Interlude''
|''Cinquième tableau – Laideronnette, impératrice des Pagodes'' (Empress of the Pagodas)
|''Interlude''
|''Sixième tableau – Le jardin féerique'' (The Fairy Garden)}}
===Instrumentation===
''Ma mère l'Oye'' is scored for an orchestra with the following instruments:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
;[[Woodwind]]s
:2 [[Western concert flute|flute]]s (2nd doubling [[piccolo]])
:2 [[oboe]]s (2nd doubling [[cor anglais]])
:2 [[clarinet]]s in B{{music|flat}} and A
:2 [[bassoon]]s (2nd doubling [[contrabassoon]])

;[[Brass section|Brass]]
:2 [[French horn|horns]] in F

{{col-3}}

;[[Percussion]]
:[[timpani]]

:[[bass drum]]
:[[cymbal]]s
:[[Triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]]
:[[Gong|tamtam]]
:[[xylophone]]
:([[snare drum]] in the ballet)

{{col-3}}

;[[Keyboard instrument|Keyboards]]
:[[celesta]]
:[[keyboard glockenspiel|''jeu de timbre'']]

;[[String instrument|Strings]]

:[[harp]]

:[[violin]]s I, II
:[[viola]]s
:[[cello]]s
:[[double bass]]es
{{col-3}}
{{col-end}}

==In popular culture==
* On his 1974 album, ''[[So What (Joe Walsh album)|So What]]'', American guitarist [[Joe Walsh]] recorded the first piano movement, which he simply titled "Pavanne", on the synthesizer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.joewalshonline.com/solo/sowhat/pavanne.htm|title=Pavanne (De La Belle Au Bois Dormant) - So What (Joe Walsh)|publisher=joewalshonline.com|accessdate=19 April 2017}}</ref>
* On his 1980 album, ''Bolero'' (also titled ''The Ravel Album''), Japanese synthesizer artist [[Isao Tomita]] recorded the five movements of the piano version.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isaotomita.net/recordings/daphnis.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030622004320/http://www.isaotomita.net/recordings/daphnis.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 22, 2003|title=Tomita - Daphnis et Chloé|publisher=isaotomita.net|accessdate=19 April 2017}}</ref>
* In the 1984 TV short ''Jean Shepherd on Route 1... and Other Major Thoroughfares'', an orchestral version of ''Le jardin féerique'' plays in the background while [[Jean Shepherd|Shepherd]] narrates a segment about [[U.S. Route 22 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 22]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Jean Shepherd - Route 22|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rke5xFNO0og|language=en|access-date=2022-02-15}}</ref>
* The 1993 album ''[[Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales]]'' includes selections from the suite.<ref name="paris">{{cite book |last1=Paris |first1=Barry |title=Audrey Hepburn |date=September 2001 |publisher=Penguin Publishing Group |isbn=9781101127780 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1STPjX_1UmcC |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>
*In the 2007 anime [[Clannad (video game) | ''Clannad'']], the characters choose "Ma mére l'oye" (more specifically a section of "Petit Poucet: Très modéré") as the background music for their school play.
* The 2017 film [[Call Me by Your Name (film)|''Call Me by Your Name'']] makes extensive use of a section of ''Le jardin féerique'',
* In the 2021 film ''[[The Worst Person in the World (film)|The Worst Person in the World]]'', a section of ''Les entretiens de la belle et de la bete'' plays while Julie freezes time to meet with Eivind at a cafe.
* The Korean Drama "Sky Castle" (2018-2019) employs Bolero and The Fairy Garden throughout the 20 episode saga.
* In [[Rick Owens]]' Fall/Winter 2024 women's show "Porterville", a looping synthesizer cover of the first movement was used throughout.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMSLP2|work=Ma mère l'Oye (suite) (Ravel, Maurice)|cname=Ma mère l'Oye}}
*[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cuo/audio.html Free recording] by the [[Columbia University]] Orchestra.
*[https://archive.org/details/Ravel-MaMreLoyefelipeSarro Free recording] of ''Ma mère l'Oye'' by Felipe Sarro

{{Maurice Ravel}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma mere l'Oye}}
[[Category:Suites by Maurice Ravel]]
[[Category:Orchestral suites]]
[[Category:Compositions for solo piano]]
[[Category:Compositions for piano four-hands]]
[[Category:Ballets by Maurice Ravel]]
[[Category:1912 ballets]]
[[Category:1910 compositions]]
[[Category:1911 compositions]]
[[Category:1912 compositions]]
[[Category:Music based on fairy tales]]
[[Category:Works based on nursery rhymes]]
[[Category:Music with dedications]]
[[Category:Ballets based on works by Charles Perrault]]
[[Category:Piano compositions by Maurice Ravel]]