Ma mère l'Oye (English: Mother Goose, literally "My Mother the Goose") is a suite by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), based on tales de Charles Perrault (Sleeping Beauty and Tom Thumb, drawn from Mother Goose Tales, 1697), Madame Leprince de Beaumont (Beauty and the Beast, 1757) and by Madame d'Aulnoy (The Green Serpent, 1697). There are three main versions of this suite: the firstâÂÂthe work's original formâÂÂwhich was written for piano four-hands); the second, following in the tradition of Ravel's orchestrations, is a score for symphony orchestra (1911); and the lastâÂÂa more expanded versionâÂÂis an adaptation for ballet, with choreography by Jane Hugard (1912).
Ravel originally wrote Ma mère l'Oye as a piano duet for the children of his friends Ida and , Mimie 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, to their parents). Jeanne Leleu (age 11) and Geneviève Durony (age 14 (10 by another source)) premiered the work at the first concert of the Société musicale indépendante on 20 April 1910.
Ma mère l'Oye bears witness to the composer's fondnessâÂÂhe remained a bachelor and childlessâÂÂfor "childlike" themes, a predilection also found later in L'enfant et les sortilèges (1925).
The piece was transcribed for 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.
Both piano versions bear the subtitle "cinq pièces enfantines" (five children's pieces). The five pieces are:
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 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.
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:
Ravel did not arrange these new orchestral movements for piano four-hands, but was instead done by Lucien Garban in 1919 (Prélude et Danse du rouet et scène).
In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the five-piece suite. This form is the most frequently heard today. The British premiere of Ma mère lâÂÂOye occurred with this version on 27 August 1912 at the Promenade Concerts, under the baton of Henry Wood.
Unlike, Daphnis et Chloé, another Ravel composition, the composer utilized a reduced symphonic orchestra: the woodwind and horn sections are doubled, yet there are no trumpets, trombones, or tubas. Ma mère lâÂÂOye has an almost chamber-like in character, highlighting solo passages and subtle blends of timbre, evoking a distinctive and enchanting atmosphere of fairy tales and childhood.
Later the same year, he also expanded it into a 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 des Arts in Paris.
At the behest of patron Jacques Rouché for his Théâtre des Arts, the work was subsequently transformed into a ballet. The structure was to be divided in one act, five scenes, and an apotheosis. Ravel added a prelude, a scene ("Spinning-Wheel Dance and Scene"), and four interludes; he also altered the order of the movements to perfect the dramatic progression. This new adaptationâÂÂwhose fantastical atmosphere lends itself ideally to the work's overall thematic contentâÂÂranks among RavelâÂÂs finest achievements in the choreographic genre. Its premiere, originally scheduled for the 25th (and later the 27th) of January, ultimately took place on 29 January 1912 under the musical direction of Gabriel Grovlez, with choreography by Jane Hugard and sets and costumes by Jacques Drésa (executed by Georges Mouveau). The dress rehearsal had taken place the previous day, on the 28 January.
The eleven numbers are:
Ma mère l'Oye is scored for an orchestra with the following instruments: