Pavane for a Dead Infant , Gabriel Faure

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This topic has 10 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 7 months ago by Gretchen Cover.

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August 1, 2013 at 3:12 pm #61783

Gretchen Cover
Participant

I just received an email from a local amateur orchestra asking if I could play the harp part for the Faure Pavane for a Dead Infant next April. I am by no means an accomplished orchestral harpist but I could play something not too difficult. Faure = Scary so I want to check this out before responding.

I have searched the internet and cannot find this piece. Is this even the correct name? Any help in finding the harp score so I can review it would be greatly appreciated. Any comments on the difficulty appreciated as well.

August 1, 2013 at 3:38 pm #61784

barbara-brundage
Participant

Hi, Gretchen. ‘Pavane pour une infante defunte’ means ‘Pavane for a Dead Infanta’ (i.e., Spanish Princess). However, that piece is by Ravel. The Faure Pavane is just called “Pavane”, so first I’d clarify which they mean. There’s no harp in the original scoring for the Faure, if that’s the piece.

If it’s really the Ravel, you can download the original harp part here:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Pavane_pour_une_infante_défunte_(Ravel,_Maurice)

(just noticed the typo in the title–sorry about that)

August 1, 2013 at 7:00 pm #61785

Gretchen Cover
Participant

Thank you, Barbara. I did send an email to the conductor asking if he has his pavane’s correct. I appreciate your putting the link to Ravel in your reply.

August 1, 2013 at 7:02 pm #61786

barbara-brundage
Participant

You’re welcome, Gretchen. As you can see, it’s pretty easy, if it is the Ravel.

August 15, 2013 at 1:30 pm #61787

Loonatik
Member

Oh… i thought it was really a Pavane for a dead infant, which sounded quite morbid.

August 16, 2013 at 1:43 am #61788

Gretchen Cover
Participant

Dead Spanish princess (une infante defunte) is fairly creepy, too:)

August 16, 2013 at 1:51 am #61789

barbara-brundage
Participant

Well, according to most of the biographies of Ravel, it means “dead” as in “long dead, from a century long ago”, as opposed to a funeral march or something like that. Although they say it was just meant to be a sort of homage to antique Spanish court life and dances, it’s certainly true that Velazquez’s “Las Meninas” was extremely popular around that time and inspired a number of other creative works around the same time, so I’ve always wondered if that weren’t really what Ravel was thinking of when he wrote it.

EDIT Although many of Ravel’s biographers say he always wrote first, then thought up a title.

August 16, 2013 at 9:38 pm #61790

Gretchen Cover
Participant

Interesting commentary on the pavane title. Thanks for sharing the information.

August 19, 2013 at 8:17 am #61791

carl-swanson
Participant

My French-English dictionary defines defunt as ‘former’, or ‘late’. So the Ravel title would translate better as Pavane for a former princess, or ‘the late princess.’

September 3, 2013 at 9:03 am #61792

Elizabeth Volpé Bligh
Participant

We were playing this piece once with our former music director, Sergiu Comissiona. It may have been dragging a bit, so he commented, “You are playing Pavane for a Dead Princess, not Dead Pavane for a Princess.”

September 3, 2013 at 3:07 pm #61793

Gretchen Cover
Participant

Clever remark! (BTW, I meant to type infante in the initial post and didn’t realize the “e” was left off:)
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