Maurice Ravel – Histoires Naturelles

Most of the writing in this cycle is “self-explanatory” and with enough slow, comfortable repetition, you’ll find yourself maneuvering through the score quite comfortably.  The following pieces of advice might help save a bit of energy. I. Le Paon

• Measure 1:  The first sixteenth-note chord that appears in the treble clef can be taken with the left hand.  This allows for maximum delicacy.
• Measure 12: Use 5/4/2 for the first sixteenth-note chord after the tie in the treble clef.
• Measure 28: Take the thirty-second notes in the left hand.  You’ll find that you’re in place to still play the bass clef notes!  For example, taking the final thirty-second notes of this measure with 2-1 even allows you to play the Ab in the bass clef of the next bar without a problem.
• Measure 29:  See measure twenty-eight.
• Measure 33:  You should instinctively be taking the lower interval of a second with your left hand.

III. Le Cygne

• Measure 18:  This is the only empty measure of the piece.  It is a bar of 2/4 with a fermata placed above it.  Could there be a practical reason behind this aesthetic moment of silence? This measure leaves the pianist enough time to prepare the bass notes found on the downbeat of the following six measures (E, A, D, and G).  If these notes are prepared and the sostenuto pedal is used, the following measures can be played with the lowest bass note being sustained, while the upper harmonies are allowed to cleanly transition from one to another in a natural manner with the regular sustain/damper pedal.

V. La Pintade

• Measures 16-17:  There are many fingerings for this passage, but you can start here if you’d like.  Starting with the last two sixteenth notes of measure sixteen (4-2-4-1-5-1-2-1-4-1-3-2-4-2-5-2-5/1).  This uses the thumb as a pivot/fulcrum on white notes and the second finger as a pivot on black notes.
• Measure 42:  When numbering measures, realize just how long this measure actually is!
• Measure 44:  Follow the hand division as printed during this run, but the last eight notes can all be taken with the right hand.  There’s no need to use the left hand to play the D-Eb if your right hand was already in place there.
• Measure 50:  After playing the first five notes in your left hand, cross over and play at least two more with this same hand.  This allows the right hand to move into the downbeat of the next measure without jumping.
• Measure 51:  If the above instruction is followed, the highest G# can be taken in your right hand.

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We start the story of this song cycle with Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.  He was one of those 18th century intellectuals who had as many interests as syllables in his name.  Math, nature, space…  He has been called “the father of all thought in natural history.” [1. Page 330 in this biology history book for those who doubt] These interests lead him to write many, many volumes of material about animals.  Thirty-six volumes published during his lifetime with more popping up after he was dead.  Anyone who was anyone had to place a copy of this Histoire naturelle (note the singular versus Ravel’s plural) on their bookshelf.   Really…  He was selling right up there with Voltaire and Rousseau.  The guy had clout.  After saying that nature in the New World was inferior to the other side of the Atlantic, Thomas Jefferson sent soldiers on a hunt for a bull moose to prove the “stature and majesty of American quadripeds.” [2. Page 80 in this one]

What’s this have to do with Ravel?  Not so fast.  First a bit about the source of the texts used in this song cycle…Jules Renard.  Since everyone seemed to be into the many volumes of the Histoire naturelle, he thought that maybe they’d like some funny poems to lighten the mood while they’re immersed in it.  Renard said that Buffon’s volumes are writings about animals intended to give pleasure to men, but his poems are meant to give enjoyment to the animals themselves. [3. Page xii of this perfectly usable Dover edition of some Ravel songs]  Yep, he also said he hoped the poems would make the animals smile.  These poems were published in 1895.  Those interested can read the whole collection here.  Like the original Histoire naturelle, the poems were popular too, enough so that those hearing Ravel’s song cycle over a decade later (written in 1906 premiered in 1907) would have been familiar with them.  Ravel thought the poetry would be perfect for a new type of “musical declamation” following closely the natural flow of the French language.  The cycle is known for the natural presentation of the schwa.  Like spoken French, the mute e’s in this cycle do not sound in their elisions with following words.

So how’d they like it?  Ravel premiered the work with Jane Bathori, a frequent proponent of music of Les Six and the dedicatee of the first song in the cycle, “Le Paon.”  Ravel invited Jules Renard to the performance.  The poet wasn’t too excited about it.  He was a bit confused as to what Ravel thought he could add to the text with music. [4. For those interested, it is really worth reading some of Renard’s journal entries related to the experience.  Page 52 of this book.] At the premiere, the audience was “scandalized by the declamation” in the song cycle. [5. Ibid.]  They grew angry during the rests in “Le Grillon“…there was “jeering laughter” after the first line of “Martin-Pêcheur“.  That’s the “Ça n’a pas mordu, ce soir…” line (translated roughly as, “No luck tonight…”) Dirty minds in that audience!  The critics hated the cycle.  “Ravel [thinks] he has discovered something lyrical in M. Renard’s Guinea-fowl and Peacock; in my opinion this subtle musician has never been so completely mistaken.”  “[Composers must] fight mercilessly to avoid any similar attempts at ‘musical decomposition.'” [6. All this described in more detail in the Ravel biography mentioned in the last two notes. Pages 52 and 53.] Despite this rough start, the cycle is now considered to be a major contribution to French art song.

The schwa is a big deal in this cycle.  French poetry is often structured around the number of syllables with unaccented syllables still counted.  It really would’ve been scandalous to ignore the schwa and present it in art song as it would appear in spoken French.